Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!


Update: I called PGN this week and we are still with the 2nd reviewer. A typical 5 -6 week stay with this reviewer. We are on week 2 and counting. Keeping our fingers crossed for no more knock outs.
Our cookbooks are selling like hotcakes! We have sold just under 200 so far and many have expressed that they want a few more. Thank you again for all of your support and kind feedback on how wonderful they came out.
Thanks to Miss A. at our church, we have been given the opportunity to place a table in the children's ministry area to share our story with our fellow church members. It is truly an honor and blessing to touch base with people and tell them about Guatemala and Anthony. It is so comforting to see that complete strangers are taking the time to hear about our journey and offering prayer support and words of encouragement. A much needed medicine for us as a family. For those of you who know me, I believe that "everyone has a story" and I love getting to know people through their story. This has given me an opportunity to share a little bit of mine. What a great feeling.


Looks like news on Guatemalan adoptions are spreading like wildfire. Sadly, most of it negative. Accusation of "baby stealing", "buying children", "corruption", etc. Up until now, I have refused to address these accusations because I just don't see the need to feed into the continuation of such hurtful and slanderous judgements and falsehoods. So here is my rebuttal to the most popular comments and misunderstandings:
In every country where adoptions numbers are high, there is a certain number of illegal happenings (certainly the US included). Because it is in our nature to focus on the bad - these cases seem to stir up more interest. I will not argue that there IS NOT corruption in Guatemalan adoptions but rather that the ratio of "corrupt to legal" is extremely misrepresented in the media. My guess would be, for every 1 illegal adoption, there are 500 legal ones.
The high costs involved in adopting from Guatemala are NOT the cost of the baby. They cover expenses such as private fostering (as opposed to orphanages), health/medical care, living expenses (diapers, formula, etc), legal fees, paperwork fees (a huge amount of paperwork both here in the US and Guatemala simultaneously), etc. These fees are incurred because once you accept a child through adoption in Guatemala, the lawyers step in and facilitate that these things go into motion. These steps and elements are expensive in and of themselves. Together - they equal the total.
The notion that Guatemalan adoptions is a relatively simple process is bogus. I assure you, there is nothing simple about this painstaking process. We watch our children grow through pictures and written updates while we wait sleeplessly for nearly a year ( and for many - well over a year). The flip flop and zig zagging of paperwork and setbacks is stifling. We are at the mercy of governmental policies and practices and are often tossed backwards with every turn. This is an extremely emotional journey - one that effects our days and nights, our daily life, and our future. I often compare it to having a child in special care on life support. Do you just go about your daily life "keeping busy" while you wait for the doctors to say "okay, they are better now. You can take him/her home"? I think not.
Compound all of the above with the misconception that just because "you sought this out" or "you WANTED to do this" or better yet "if this doesn't work out do you get your money back?" is like pouring salt into a cut. I refuse to respond to such hurtful, insensitive comments.