Hi folks -
Our readership has grown significantly which also means that the number of comments have grown as well. I am sure that I am not doing as good of a job moderating (some posts may have slipped by), but would like to add some new groundrules when posting (I'll try to add these to the site in an obvious place as well).
Since comments are PUBLIC to everyone (no membership required), I would ask that you not mention your agency name. We have been threatened by lawsuites in the past and I would rather not have the site down for 6 months while we fight them! I will be happy to answer questions about this via private email. You are welcome to post good and bad experiences without mention of the name.....I am trying to figure out a better way for folks to communicate their recommendations or warnings to other readers on the site, but I haven't worked it out yet. Posting email address also puts you in a position to get royally spammed so be cautious before you do that. This site is crawled several times a day and many of them are happy to sell to spammers. I can't stop it, but I can at least warn our readers.
If I've missed a comment that you are concerned about, please email me.
Posted by Kelly at July 13, 2006 11:18 AMPlease tell me that the PGN process is NOT taking 4 -5 months. My son is 4 months old and just came back from seeing him for the first time. Is this true? I am in PGN now and I cant believe what I am reading regarding the time frames? Thanks,
Posted by: Terry at July 24, 2006 10:25 PMTerry, there seems to be no rhyme or reason for the time frames with PGN, so you never know what will happen with your particular case. You may luck out and not be in as long as others. In my particular situation, I entered PGN when my son was 4 months old. He is now 9 months old and I am still waiting.
I have a positive attitude though because I have been told time and again about delays with international adoption so this is not a surprise.
I wish you the best of luck.
Posted by: ariel at July 31, 2006 08:34 AMThank you Ariel for responding and I hope you are able to bring your son home very soon. I will keep the faith and hope for a fast turn around. God Bless.
Posted by: Terry at August 1, 2006 03:38 PMPgn sometimes gives surprises. Sometimes cases can be approved the first time. We do have at the office coming out with previo in 15 days. We also have some staying there longer. I think the best is have patience and faith.
Posted by: maritza molina at August 2, 2006 06:32 PMI think this is all a disgrace. Here we are sending our money to Guatemala for our babies. They have our money and we have to wait for them to give us our babies. That is disgraceful. I will never adopt from Guatemala again. This is my first adoption and I plan on adopting another child in a year but if the PGN doesn't get their shit together I definately will not go to Guate ever again
Posted by: Melissa at August 7, 2006 11:07 PMAnother thought about commenting...
Melissa, while I understand the frustration...comments like these probably do not reflect on you well at all. You are not paying a fee to buy a baby. You are paying fees for the attorney to act on your behalf and on the child's behalf to complete the paperwork for the adoption. This post gives me the impression that you are not very familiar with the process and are letting emotions speak instead of understanding.
PGN does not "have your money" for the adoption. They are a government organization who reviews each case. The attorneys have no control over how quickly PGN reviews the cases. It is in THEIR best interest to have the cases complete quickly not just for reputation, but for the sake of taking on new cases and freeing resources to do so.
Guatemala is quite different in that the children are not yet considered legally abandoned by the country (like most of the other intercountry adoption programs) when you get their referral. Believe it or not, the only semi-smooth program that I know of is China....and even then, you should expect long waits and the children don't necessarily all come home at as young an age.
The problem I see with the Guatemala program right now is that it is inconsistent. In the past, it has been one of the most logical approaches to getting the children home with minimal attachment issues. Some of the attorneys were so quick and efficient that we started expecting quick timelines for every case....not realizing that if it was done in our court systems (the amount of paperwork, etc.)...it would easily take a year on average. Of course, that length of time is STILL traumatic for the child!
So, I would recommend that you take some time to read over the process and what must take place (you can find this in the Resource Center). Also understand that while PGN has been unexplicably slow....they are charged with more responsibility than simply signing off YOUR adoption.
Posted by: Kelly (guatadopt.com) at August 8, 2006 07:42 AMRegardless of the process, I think the whole thing is a disgrace, I am seriously considering pulling out altogether.
Posted by: melissa at August 9, 2006 05:14 AMHas anyone had problems after the PGN? My case was released from PGN early July. I can not get an Embassy appointment because our case is stuck in DHS. My case is like a hampster stuck in a wheel.
DHS tells us to go to the State Dept and the State Dept sends us back to DHS. Just wondering if anyone else has had the same issue.