Friends & Family:
Renee and I arrived back in the States last Friday afternoon after an adventurous 18-hour trek and 36 hours of relative sleeplessness. It's good to be home, but it was very hard to leave Syevinch after just having met her. It helped knowing that we should expect a call to return by later this month or early November.
Coming off of our high from meeting her and beginning the process of bonding, however, we learned just yesterday that one of the essential forms required by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security prior to finalizing international adoption has expired. (Why nobody caught this until this critical stage is beyond me.) Sadly, our entire process has ground to a halt while this piece of paper gets appropriate approval.
What this means is that we must now scramble to complete this intensely bureaucratic form, provide supporting documentation (we currently have much of what they require, but when we initially completed the form they came back asking for documentation that was not originally requested), and plead for them to expedite the approval process. The instructions state that the processing period is 60 to 90 days -- which means that there is no way we'd be able to coordinate our return to Russia and finalize the adoption in the current plan of early November.
Our adoption agency is advising us to seek support of our legislators to expedite the process, stating that a personal contact with a Congressperson or U.S. Senator will go a very long way.
So my question to each of you is this: Do you have a contact with anyone in the offices of either Mike Honda, Zoe Lofgren, Barbara Boxer, or Dianne Feinstein that you be willing to share with us in the hope of accessing this legislative assistance?
I came back from this first trip feeling so good that things were finally moving forward, but I could not let go of that pessimistic piece that had worked its way deep into my consciousness, the result of the turbulent ride we've been on for two and a half years. The pessimism has re-awakened, and while no one is saying that the process could yet fall apart, I can't let go of that possibility. And now that Syevinch has found her way into my heart, tears welling up out of fear that we will, at best, have to wait even longer for her and and she for us.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent and for any assistance you might be able to provide in what we still consider to be the home stretch.
With love,
Larry & Renee
Renee and I arrived back in the States last Friday afternoon after an adventurous 18-hour trek and 36 hours of relative sleeplessness. It's good to be home, but it was very hard to leave Syevinch after just having met her. It helped knowing that we should expect a call to return by later this month or early November.
Coming off of our high from meeting her and beginning the process of bonding, however, we learned just yesterday that one of the essential forms required by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security prior to finalizing international adoption has expired. (Why nobody caught this until this critical stage is beyond me.) Sadly, our entire process has ground to a halt while this piece of paper gets appropriate approval.
What this means is that we must now scramble to complete this intensely bureaucratic form, provide supporting documentation (we currently have much of what they require, but when we initially completed the form they came back asking for documentation that was not originally requested), and plead for them to expedite the approval process. The instructions state that the processing period is 60 to 90 days -- which means that there is no way we'd be able to coordinate our return to Russia and finalize the adoption in the current plan of early November.
Our adoption agency is advising us to seek support of our legislators to expedite the process, stating that a personal contact with a Congressperson or U.S. Senator will go a very long way.
So my question to each of you is this: Do you have a contact with anyone in the offices of either Mike Honda, Zoe Lofgren, Barbara Boxer, or Dianne Feinstein that you be willing to share with us in the hope of accessing this legislative assistance?
I came back from this first trip feeling so good that things were finally moving forward, but I could not let go of that pessimistic piece that had worked its way deep into my consciousness, the result of the turbulent ride we've been on for two and a half years. The pessimism has re-awakened, and while no one is saying that the process could yet fall apart, I can't let go of that possibility. And now that Syevinch has found her way into my heart, tears welling up out of fear that we will, at best, have to wait even longer for her and and she for us.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent and for any assistance you might be able to provide in what we still consider to be the home stretch.
With love,
Larry & Renee
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