Thank you Guatadopt! Also, thank you Kevin for always listening to me and giving me advice!

Thanks so much for all the continuous hard work you and the whole staff constantly do to help these precious children.

God Bless,
Tammy

Thank-you from the bottom of my heart. Now we wait and pray.

Has anyone gotten out of PGN yet? I am still trying to get word of the 230 cases that were released on Friday. Please send in a note if you were one of these and if you got a previo please send a message to Joint Council on your case and the reason for a previo. I am trying to send them daily e-mails to let them now the progress of cases to get them involved so that they stay in touch with what is going on. They are in a position to help. I have also recommended that for previos they should have have a few people dedicated at PGN to just look at previos. To begin the whole PGN process again is just ridiculous. We have waited long enough as it is. It is time to get the children home and stop knit picking over every document. Karen

Karen- You can find out the answer to your question by logging onto the forum, located at the left of this page. PAPs are posting their progress, and yes there have been some outs, some previos (ko's) and some Pinks issued as well. You might want to log on, as the process of previos is explained, what is the nature of the previo and to which reviewer the case is at.
Marie, Guatadopt.com

Can anyone share the latest on rescheduling birth mom interviews? Ours received the ever-helpful one day notice last week and could not make it. I think I read a couple of weeks ago that attorneys were able to reschedule fairly quickly, but I wondered if that was still true. We first entered PGN in August 2007, got kicked out in October due to an error made by our attorney on the POA, then got kicked out in January due to some problem with the BM birth certificate. We finally reentered PGN on April 23.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Karen, last week it took 3-4 working days for the outs to filter through lawyers to individuals - Wed/Thu.

My second birthmom interview was May 29 with no irregularities found. However there is a previo and PGN is refusing to release the file so my attorney can add the necessary document. Unfortunately my case was not one released Friday. I did let JCICS know and asked that we not start at the beginning when the previo is fixed. That is just ridiculous and cruel.
Julie W.

thank you Kevin - I spoke with Mark Moore and someone from Michael Valverdi's office at the State Dept who was also going to ask John Lowell to have a conversation specifically with CNA on this matter.. its unfortunate that only 30 people registered but I think many people with these type cases were dropped by their agencies once the CA registration deadline passed. Hope there is some good news in the future since these children are truly orphans.

Our case was one of the ones released on Friday with a previo. Apparently the previo is due to a mistake on PGN's behalf but it will still have to go back through all 3 reviewers (approx 40 business days) and then either be approved or ko'd again. The reviewer was of the opinion that POA registration date is the date it comes OUT of the Archivo de Protocolos when actually it is the date it is SUBMITTED. Doesn't sound like the "new and improved" PGN is going to stop the petty previos. I will just continue to pray our children HOME!

We got the call on Friday that we were out of PGN!!!

Dave

we were told today that we " passed all reviewers" I pray that means we will really be OUT at the of the week.

Julie,
Was your BM interviewed twice or was it a reschedule? If it was a reschedule, how long in between the first notice of interview and the rescheduled?

Our attorney has requested an extra $300/month for fostercare expenses. Is this happening to others? Is this reasonable?

DMJ8 - we have heard about this on this site and on the yahoo group. My girls are in an orphanage so i have not exactly the same experience but my agency did mention giving the orphange part of the final payment now (while I'm still in PGN) to help with expenses.

I did recieve a notice that if my case was not competele by October I would start back up my foster care fee of 350.00 a month

AC,
I too had a BM with 15 hour notice. My 2nd interview was re-scheduled exactly 1 week later.

We just had our birthmom interview (PGN since Dec) and were told it went 'great'. But apparently our case was not 'approved' and certainly hasn't been 'released'. Our little angel turns one in two weeks.

We have been asked for more money as well and I know other facilitators have asked as well. We are going to pay bc we want to make sure that the foster mom gets paid. We talk with her weekly so we ask if she has been paid. We kinda anticipated this bc we knew that at some point with the added time frames that the money would eventually run out....

Teresa- Did someone actually tell your attorney a file turned back in after a previo will take another 40 days? I cannot imagine how they could do that to people after making everyone go through the second birthmom interview and already substantially delaying all cases. I hope JCICS will urge them to let those with corrected previos out quickly.
AC- My birthmother interview was not a reschedule; I just meant it was the 2nd interview (the first being the SW's.)
Julie W..

I also got a call from my agency saying my facilitator is asking for $300/month. I told them to check and see if this would come off the total $$$ I owe in the end......
Also, my daughter's foster mother wrote today and said that our lawyer said we can't come visit. She was told that our daughter cannot leave her house. We purchased tickets a WHILE ago. I am waiting for some answers from my agency on this. Has anyone else heard anything like this???

our birth mother went for the interview june 3 2008 our agency is telling us that evrything went fine , but we dont known when they will release those case who have been interviewed early june . how long it will be? our agency is telling us that they have heard nothing yet about those 230 cases release on friday . did somebody knowns how many cases were able to get out and how many went on previos . please if anyone known something . katia

Who do the employees at the Embassy work for? Who do they ultimately report to in the U.S.? Who would we contact if we have a question on protocol? We are looking for a U.S. contact, not a GT contact, but someone who is ultimately responsible for what happens in GT and who is responsible for oversight of employee performace. Thank you.

Thanks Guatadopt. Iam so happy the forms were sent. Is there anything more we can do?
Also, is it possible to send out emails to those that filled out this form and ask if they would be willing to be part of a yahoo group so we can support each other??

I was told by my facilitator that we are not allowed to visit either. I was in contact with my Foster mom but since all of this mess, she has not returned any of my calls or emails.

Embassies are overseen by the DOS.

Condi Rice is your top gal...
Ambassador Derham reports to her...
Lowell reports to Derham AND DOS

If your issue is with Lowell, I can say from direct contact that he is doing a lot for us families.

Our BEST bet is to have our Members of Congress get to Condi Rice. She has remained aloof to all of this and has never stepped in to help.

There are at least 2300 American families who need help in a foreign country.

The US Embassy reports to the US Dept of State. The person that we have contacted and found not to be very helpful was:

Ruth Lincoln
US DOS
Washington, DC
202-736-9096

We rec'd this contact info via our senator.
We were told that all embassy's have their own rules according to the countries that work in. At the time we were calling about the short open window time and number of days that they were open to accept cases. You may find her to be helpful depending on what you need.

Kat,

Did they say why you can't visit. We are leaving Thursday for a week and also have tickets for another visit at the end of July. We are paying our foster mother directly and the cost is coming out of our final fees.

We were one of the previos last week, I'm sorry to say. We entered PGN on 4/24, had BM interview on 5/22, were told we were with the 2nd reviewer on 5/27, then a previo on 6/5. It can't possibly take 40 additional days, can it???

I talked to Ruth Lincoln a few weeks back and she was of no help what-so-ever!!!

Thanks to all who responded to my Embassy question. I feel oversight is lacking, and abuse of power is definitely happening. I want to see some accountability for what the embassy has put my family through for no good reason. I'm just tired of hearing that we have no recourse for what amounts to a blatant abuse of power. I just want someone to explain why some of what has been happening has been allowed and why it continues to be allowed. Sorry, can't provide details at this time. Thanks for your help.

Audra,
I would like to be part of a Yahoo group for those of us in this situation. If Kevin or someone would compile the emails, that would be wonderful and much appreciated!

We were told that adoptions are in such high profile that facilitators are actually asking foster moms to stay home with the foster children. The police can come into the hotel and take the child from you and the foster mom and place in orphanage because until the approval, you do not have any rights to have the child in your possession. It can get everyone in trouble and end your case. It is not worth it right now. I feel your pain. I was planning a visit in June myself. I am waiting.

The 40 day estimate came from our agency facilitator in Guat. I have heard elsewhere that 10-25 days is more realistic, but I think they always give the worst case scenario as far as wait times. We are supposed to be resubmitted on 6/13. I pray that our next "out" is with an approval!

Kim,
I just got an email from my facilitator via my agency that stated: PGN is going to foster parents homes to visit and if the child is not there, there will be problems. He also said there are people checking hotels and if kids are there....asking for passports. No word whatsoever on where my daughter is in process. We went into PGN in january, kicked out and back in 9 March. We were at 2nd reviewer when all this mess started. BM interview went "fine" and I have still not heard a word. I am frustrated beyond words! And to be told I can't visit when I purchased 3 tickets months ago..........

ext 4005 told me that the files are released 3 weeks after birth mom interviews. is that true? anyone know? she also gave me the phone number for the sec. general of guat and told me to call them to find out if my file is ready. anyone have experience like this?

Kat,

We have not heard anything about this and it sounds pretty serious. We just came home June 1st (long story about two trips so close together) and although we did not leave the hotel with our son we didn't experience any problems. (We were warned not to.) What about the people in Antigua that are fostering? Are they okay because they have foster paperwork (or should have). We have found that if we do not go to Guatemala our case is standing still. We rec'd referral in Oct and just rec'd DNA authorization May 27th, our bm was supposed to be brought in for family court and it did not happen. We have hired someone to bring in our bm (not the facilitator, she fell through 2 weeks in a row)and if she is successful we hope to finish family court and FINALLY receive DNA samples for testing this visit. We also have tickets for July for our sons 1st birthday. I am more worried now, than before, about visiting. We had our 1st visit in April and we went then to see if we could find out what was going on because our case had not moved at all.

Has anyone else been warned about visiting? Our hotel was full of Americans some visiting, some taking home! Hooray!!

Has anyone received a Birth Certificate in a while? I have been waiting for 7.5 weeks since Final adoption decree was signed for Chiquimula to release BC for my child. I have been out of PGN for 8 weeks. Has anyone had luck going to get the BC on their own? Any advice is much appreciated.

Kat,

I was told by my agency that I could go visit my son but I can't take him out of his orphanage. The government has been inconsistent and it wouldn't be safe for the child or the adoptive parents. My little guy will a year old this Saturday!! Good Luck

It seems we have encountered one major issue after another with our Agency ABW and our whole process, after one heartbreaking referral loss, our second referral is ongoing with my son having serious medical physical delays due to the care he received with the first foster Mom. We paid $2000 to expedite our PGN file in Nov 07 (understanding that it doesnt make it go quicker, just assures it it inspected prior to being submitted and all previos there for corrected before hand so we wouldnt get booted out (Ha!!), we were originally told our file was submitted Feb 18th, our file was actually submitted March 21st with 4 previous that were corrected and resubmitted April 27th. We had our birth mother interview a week ago and were told it was more like an interogation, our BM cried upon seeing the child she gave birth to almost a year ago (a natural reaction, I am assuming)..She was grilled for 45 mins non-stop while she cried and asked over 50 times to take her son home with her, despite her protests that that was not an option for her, but her emotions were preyed upon and handled so badly.
We were told there was one problem with the file..a notary stamp missing form when we changed foster Moms, but we were not booted out and the file will exit PGN in two more weeks (I am apparently on the 3rd reviewers desk) My agency was told about my son's health issues in february but did nothing about it and now PGN nor the embassey I believe are making any exceptions for special needs cases :( Like everyone else I am just trying to bear with it. We had wanted our son for his first b'day June 26th, but now we just want him so we can get him in and early intervention program to give him the best chance to catch up.At 10 months we were told he was at a 6 month level developmentally...having worked with EDIS in my past I would say he was about 4-5 months developmentally.... With each day and week, I am aware he is not getting what he needs.

I just put together a Yahoo group for those of us who are going through abandonments. If you would like to join here is the link.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeAreNeverGivingUp/

Dani said: We paid $2000 to expedite our PGN file in Nov 07 (... [dossier] inspected prior to being submitted and ...therefore corrected beforehand so we wouldnt get booted out).

so attorneys are now charging $2000 to do something that the competent ones have always included as part of their legal services?? yet another example of extortion of PAPs... :(

Lisa

Thank you very much, Kevin and Guatadopt! We are very grateful for your advocacy! Let us know if/how we can help!

Terri - Thanks for creating the group. I took the liberty of posting the info out to the Big List and Adoption.com's forum so we can attract an even larger audience. (Hope that's OK with you!)

Thanks, Sharon

my abandonment case got called for an interview!! I'm so excited that must mean that it's moving. The woman from the orphanage will go in place of the birth mom of course. I'm thrilled. I heard from the woman at ext 4005 in PGN that cases are released from pgn 3 weeks after interviews. I have no idea if that's true but I'm going to hold on to that for 3 weeks!

Dani, I am so sorry to read your story. I, too am an ABW PAP and feel as though it is hard to get any solid information from them. Our agency is who we put all our faith in and it is so frustrating when they seem evasive and do not address the questions that you ask. Hang in there, you are not alone.

Our case came out of PGN today, exactly 3 weeks after the birth mother interview. But, of course, like over 85% of the cases leaving PGN we have a previo. So in acutallity these cases are not released! Our case went back into PGN today (the same day as the previo) with the requested peditrician update. Does anyone know what happens now? Has there been any official word?

Teresa,

Were you able to get resubmitted to PGN today? I have a friend with the same situation that you have and was wondering if your attorney was able to fix the previo. Your good news would bring hope to many others. I hope all is well.

Why do I feel like PGN is going out of their way to delay things? For goodness sakes, if you are going to issue a previo, why not do it right away? Why wait three weeks, delay a child even more from coming home to their forever family, to issue a previo? Oh, I know, it takes 3 FULL WEEKS to review a file (a file that, by the way, has already been reviewed, re reviewed and re re reviewed for the umpteenth time). Give me a break!

Frustrated,
Thank you for your kind words...I am learning there are more and more of us. The sad thing is that some of the ABW staff have been great but just soooooo overworked saving the owners butt and cant get to everything. Feel free to contact me directly for support during this process . xxx daniplatz@gmail.com

Lisa,
You are right about the expediting thing...but when you have a child with developmental delays and some special needs (we did not know that upon referral) and have already lost a referral, you feel ready to try anything so not to have to redo the 8 weeks PGN thing again and again :( Hindsight really is 20/20 and those of us adopting continue to be held emotional hostages