Saturday, April 26, 2008

Troubling News for the Vietnam Adoption Program..

I received this information from Laura/lala at 'Ladybugs and Dragonflies' on this morning's Saturday Morning Chat Group. This family is very special to me and I know that they are special to many of you. They have been waiting 18 months now for a referral from Vietnam. Now it looks like it may not be coming. Please do whatever you can to lift up this family.

This information is taken directly from her blog:

Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit
Warning Concerning Adoptions in Vietnam
April 2008
The Department of State continues to urge prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers not to initiate new adoptions from Vietnam at this time. The 2005 Memorandum of Agreement, required by Vietnamese law to authorize adoptions between the United States and Vietnam, expires on September 1, 2008. In addition, recent field investigations have revealed incidents of serious adoption irregularities, including forged or altered documentation, mothers paid, coerced or tricked into releasing their children, and children offered for adoption without the knowledge or consent of their birth parents.
The United States is strongly committed to processing legitimate intercountry adoptions from Vietnam if possible. Our primary concern is to ensure that the children and families involved in the adoption process are protected from exploitation. The Government of Vietnam shares this concern. Both countries acknowledge that more needs to be done to address deficiencies in the current system.
On April 25, the Government of Vietnam announced that it will allow adoption to be completed in cases where prospective adoptive parents have been matched with a child and received an official referral prior to September 1, 2008. It further stated that in accordance with Vietnamese law, the DIA will suspend the acceptance of new dossiers on July 1, 2008. On September 1, 2008 any dossier that has not received a referral will be closed and returned to the Adoption Service Provider. In view of the processing time required in Vietnam from placement to the Giving and Receiving Ceremony, an adoption process begun now cannot be completed before the current Agreement expires.

4 comments:

Paula said...

What a letdown for them. I'm so sorry.

Truly Blessed said...

This is so sad, another blow to people who are so heavily invested in the children.

What I don't understand is why Vietnam is going to still accept dossiers until July 1st -- what kind of sense does that make?

My heart goes out to all of the families, like Laura's, who are affected by this troubling news.

Gail said...

I also have heard this news, we know of a family in our waiting families group with our agency that will be affected by this. So sad for these families and for the children of Vietnam. They are in my prayers.

Christy said...

This just breaks my heart. I am so sorry!

Christy :)