Yesterday, over at Guatemala Adoption Information and News, Kevin reported that the USCIS Guatemala had posted a list of adoption providers who will no longer be able to process adoptions in Guatemala.

(information printed with permission of Guatadopt.com)

“Adoption Service Providers Banned

The USCIS in Guatemala has issued the below statement about adoption service providers being banned by the embassy.

To Members of the Guatemalan... more

I have been reading about the Ukrainian Constitutional Court.

They are going to settle the current dispute between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Both sides have agreed to accept the court's decision on the following question.

Does President Viktor Yushchenko have the constitutional authority to... more

A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.

Hugh Downs

Some of you may remember a self-help book many years ago called, "I'm Okay, You're Okay." Sporadically over the years, I have read a lot and tried to get my act together. That particular book was a useful one for me. As I strolled into town recently on one of my usual jaunts, I realized that finally I am "okay." I am okay with my birthmother role -... more

The Salt Lake Tribune has been running a series of articles on transracial adoption that I have been enjoying, and wanted to share with you.

The first one is titled “Kids Find Homes but Search for Identity”.

This article talks about the increasing number of transracial and international adoptions in the United States every year and provides a lot of information on the number of adoptions happening, where children are being adopted from, average costs and waiting times for different programs, etc. Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom of the article for the “Tips for Adoptive Parents”,... more

It absolutely blows my mind that some families do not support their family member’s decision to adopt. They do not support a new child entering the family because that child will be different. The fact that they do not welcome a child; any child, into their family is sickening to me. It’s sickening because the reason they are most likely shunning the adoptive family is because they now include someone who has a different skin color, is a different race, comes from an unknown background, is disabled…sadly, the list could... more

Quite a few blogs have discussed the Disney kids film Meet The Robinson’s recently, and with mixed reviews on its central adoption related theme. I took my three children and we all throughly enjoyed the film, including my 10 year old with whom the adoption message was well received.

One of the most touching things for me was the song, “Little Wonders” by former Matchbox... more

(Continued from here)

Wednesday, 16 June 2004

After spending all morning just to draw a little blood, we went back to the hotel and got Aaron to go to lunch. We went to the Habasha restaurant, but the food didn't taste good to me today and Aaron has no appetite. The other kids ate fine though. We dropped Aaron back off, then went to try and get that last signature on the contract of adoption. We did that, then went over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the authentication. It was another 324 birr just for a simple rubber stamp with a signature.

We then had some free time, so I got to check email and Greg had posted several times, including that the visa... more

(continued from here)

Tuesday, June 15, 2004 (cont)

Greg didn't call but he did make it home. My friend who was watching the kids called me about 11 pm Utah time to see if I knew where Greg was! He was supposed to be home at 8! She said his flight was delayed, but according to airline personnel, it had landed an hour late and they were on the flight but Dave couldn't find them anywhere. She called me shortly thereafter to tell me they had come on a different flight and had just landed. I knew something funky had happened, or Greg would have called them to let them know they had been delayed.

He said later that they made it to Newark, then waited around all day... more

The title of this blog is a tad controversial, but I personally feel that the country of Guatemala has given me something that no monetary value, however great, could cover: an amazing daughter. I have been wondering how I can give something back to this struggling little country through an organization that doesn't have so much "overhead" that only a small amount eventually trickles down to the people who truly need it; an organization that has not become "an end in itself" as opposed to a "means to an end."

Recently an e-pal (Carla, who I interviewed about... more

(Continued from here)

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

After we picked up the children's new passports, we went to the Dr's office where they had their Embassy physicals. The baby is about 7 ½ pounds and 52 cm long, or 20 ½ inches long at 2 months old. He told me she was malnourished. Yup, I coulda told you that. Remember, she was the one who seemed to be the sicker of the two babies – then the other one died. I just want to get her home and get her healthy.

Anyway, Beti seems to either have problems with her eyes or she just couldn't understand what they were wanting her to do with the eye chart. She basically missed everything. Because of her skin condition – vitaligo... more