We need your help!

If you read my earlier post describing the adoption process, you know it has been quite an ordeal for Eric and me. (If you know the UNICEF representative who said in last week's NPR story that there are no requirements to adopt a baby from Guatemala except to have $25-$40k, give him my number. I'll show him our paperwork. He'll be exhausted just looking at it.)

It has been very stressful. Sometimes depressing (like when I've had to tell the 4th person of the day that no, we have no news). Now, I'm afraid there IS news, and it's kinda scary.

As you may know, there has been a lot of political stuff going on between the United States and Guatemala. Without going into great detail into the history, the current situation is this: On September 27, the President of Guatemala (who is leaving office in January) has announced that Guatemala will halt all adoptions to the U.S. on January 1, 2008, including adoptions in-process. Although we continue to be hopeful and confident that we will bring Daniel home by the end of the year, the reality is that if President Berger's plan goes through, it could cause problems for our case. And it could mean that other families who are perhaps not as far along in their processes will not be able to bring their babies home at all.

We need your help! Please contact your representatives in Congress and the Department of State. Write a letter, send an email, sign an online petition, make a phone call. Whatever you can do is helpful! Much of the recent doings in Guatemala, including pending legislation, has been the result of pressure placed on them by our government. Clearly, the U.S. has the ability to influence the actions they take. Now we need our government to advocate for us, so that at least those of us who embarked on this process in good faith, have followed all the rules, and are close to completing our adoptions, are able to bring our children home.

I am attaching several links, so that you can get more information. If you only read one of them, please make it the first one by the Joint Council on International Children's Services, with details on how you can help. THANK YOU! --Jennifer

http://jcics.org/Guatemala5000.htm (includes addresses, fax numbers, phone numbers, etc.)
Congress.org (easy way to email your senators and congressmen/congresswomen)
fullergw@state.gov (email address of Gerry Fuller at the U.S. Department of State (DOS))
Guatemalan Adoptions & DOS Acountability Petition
Media Coverage of Intercountry Adoption from Guatemala Petition
Families Without Borders (discusses ethics and UNICEF's position on intercountry adoption)