Christmas-
When I think of Christmas I first think of God's LOVE for us. Yes, the Creator of Heaven and Earth and of all the stars in the sky (which if I may add are more in number than all the grains of sand on the earth) loves us. In fact, He loves us so much that He sent His only Son, a perfect human being, to save us. When I think of Christmas I think of the cross and am reminded of the blood shed on that cross for us. I think of the final and ultimate sacrifice, Jesus.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15
This Christmas we're also reminded of our new found love, Moldova. We are so grateful for and cant help but think of this small country we've come to know and feel a part of this past year...
The Republic of Moldova is a small and lovely landlocked nation in Eastern Europe favorably situated between Romania to the west and the Ukraine to the east. Moldova has been part of Romania as well as the Soviet Union since 1940 and then gained its independence on August 27, 1991. The people of Moldova speak Moldovan (Romanian) and are intensely proud of their country. Moldova enjoys a favorable climate, good farmland, and is famous for its wines; however, it remains the poorest country in Europe, accounting for the placement of many children in orphanages.
The capital city of Moldova is Chisinau, and it is also the largest city in the country. The other major cities in the country include Tighina, Balpi and Tiraspol. The total population in the country, according to the latest estimates is in excess of 4.3 million.
The main ethnic groups living in this country include the Moldovan who account for more than 75% of the total population. The other major ethnic groups living in the country include the Ukranians, the Russians, the Bulgarians and the Gagauz.
More than two-thirds of the people in the country are Orthodox Christians. The rest of the population include Independent Christians, Muslims, Aethists, Protestants and non-religious people.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
in a nutshell...
March 21 Started researching Moldovan adoptions. Just trying to figure out where to even start. Moldova is not a popular country to adopt from.
April 11 Started home study process with Adoption Advocates.
May 4 Called Spence-Chapin Adoptions (New York). They are one of the only two agencies with a Moldovan adoption program. The other is North Carolina Adoptions. Supposed to meet with Adoption Advocates for our 2ND home study meeting tonight. After speaking with SC doesn't look like they want us to proceed with this home study. They will not accept a home study completed by and exempt provider. Must use a Hague Accredited agency. Switching gears. Frustrating but hopefully for the best.
May 11 On our behalf, SC contacted a local agency here in GA, "One World Adoptions", to see if they would work with us to complete a home study. Home studies must be completed by someone in the state that you reside and in our case as well as a Hague Accredited provider. Since we are one of SC's networking families they wanted to find a local agency that would work closely together with them.
May 19 Received registration packet from SC - 1st official step in our adoption process!!
May 21 Submitted application to SC
June 4 Partnership with One World and Spence Chapin is officially established. This means we have someone in Georgia that can assist us with a home study. U.S. law requires your home study to be completed by an agency located in the state you reside. Since SC is located in New York they were able to locate and connect with One World here in Georgia. Turns out the director of One World has adopted from Moldova twice. This is pretty much unheard of. Oh, and we're officially accepted into Spence-Chapin's Moldova program!
June 17 Registration phase is complete. Now we begin our next set of paperwork.
June 17 Social worker (Donna) from One World called to let us know she received our application and will be our home study caseworker.
June 22 First meeting with Donna. We love her!
July 7 Received dossier paperwork from SC
August 6 Received draft of home study from caseworker for our review. Yes, we're approved!
August 7 Caseworker sent draft to SC for their review.
August 11 Sent completed Dossier docs back to SC
September 8 Drove into Atlanta to have docs authenticated at State office. Got the runaround. One of the documents was not notarized correctly. Another was not done to "Peter's" liking and needed to be completely redone. I cried in his office and I guess he felt sorry for me because he "let this one slide". Jumped in car and drove 45 min to One World to redo doc. Made it back to Atlanta. All docs are authenticated and ready to be mailed to SC.
September 8 Mailed authenticated dossier docs to SC. From here they will be sent to Moldova to be translated.
September 8 Mailed I800a application to USCIS. 6-8 week wait
September 15 SC mailed Dossier to Moldova for translating (even though we do not have our USCIS approval yet)
September 29 Dossier is in Moldova! Minus the USCIS approval letter which I hope they approve us!
October 2-17 Our agent, Milena Kazakov, will be traveling to Moldova for a conference.
October 18 Milena is back in the office. Can't wait to hear her updates.
October 20 Dossier is translated and ready to be registered with the Ministry of Social Protection. Still waiting on USCIS Approval but Moldova will accept our dossier without this form for now.
October 20 Spoke with our assigned officer with Homeland Security. Our biometrics have been completed and we should have our approval in the mail within the next week.
October 25 Completed POAs for Moldova
October 29 Received our CIS approval from U.S. Immigration! We're approved! Congratulations us! Now back to State office for authentication of this form.
November 2 Back to Atlanta to have CIS approval authenticated. Last document Moldova needs to complete our dossier (for now anyway).
November 2 Emailed copy of approval to Milena. Facilitators in Moldova called this morning wanting us to go ahead and email copy of USCIS form since it will take a few days to get to Moldova. They want to get our dossier through before the Moldovan Parliamentary elections are held (Nov 28). Apparently adoption laws are changing the first of the year "if" a president is elected. New laws are going to be a little more cumbersome but we are hoping to be grandfathered in to the old laws. At this point we are pretty much done with paperwork.
November 12 Dossier has been registered with the Ministry of Social Protection for Families - who oversee international adoptions. This means we can finally say "we are waiting for a referral". We've asked for a little girl age 0-5 years.
November 15 Dossier has been registered with Child Protection Services in Chisinau
November 28 The general elections in Moldova held with no outcome.
December 15 The recount of the votes did not change the parliamentary deadlock. A bloc of pro-European liberals continues to hold 59 seats, and the Communists remain with 42. No group commands a majority of at least 61, required to elect a new President. We have yet to see how this situation will be resolved.
January 18 Social Services granted the Facilitator in Moldova permission to visit orphanages in Chisinau (the capital of Moldova) to try and find a child for our family!
March 23 Informed that the Ministry of Social Protection is now going to be in charge of matching children with families. Our dossier is in their hands. With the new laws that were put in place as of January 31, 2010 there are a few new documents required. Waiting for new documents.
April 5 Completed new docs and mailed to SC. Ministry may or may not accept these documents at this time. We may have to wait until agency has been re-accredited. Due to the new laws, Moldova is requiring agencies in the U.S. to go through this re-accreditation which should be sometime in May.
May 23 Spoke with the man we met on the plane coming home from Moldova. He is from North Carolina and has a business in Moldova. He helps Moldovan students get work visas. He works closely with the US Embassy in Chisinau with immigration and visa processing. He has contacted some people to see if there is anything they can do to help with our situation. We hope this is our answer to finding someone in Moldova to work with our contacts in Transnistria.
May 31 Spoke with agency. Ministry will not accept our new documents until our agency has been re-accredited. Also, re-accreditation will not happen until later this summer - looks like it will be August. In addition, by August most of our documents would be expired (at least 1 year old).
May 31 Chris and I have decided to end our adoption process with Moldova. It was a hard decision but something we've been praying about for the past few months. Not only is the program going through a lot of changes, but after our trip to Transnistria we know that this is where our hearts are. After the conversation with our agency we really feel this path to our child has ended and the door has closed. We will continue to pray for guidance in adopting from Transnistria.
June 1 Sent letter to US Embassy in Chisinau -asking them to put us in contact with someone in Moldova that could tell us what the process would be to adopt a specific child from Transnistria
June 7 Sent a letter to Social Protection in Moldova asking for their assistance with adopting a specific child in Transnistria. While in Transnistria we spoke with several legal experts who are willing to assist us, however, since nothing they do is recognized (except in Transnistria) everything must be redone in Moldova (since Moldova still considers Transnistria part of Moldova). We cannot proceed with anything in Transnistria until we are able to find assistance in Moldova - this process needs to be completed parallel - otherwise we would adopt in Transnistria and be legal there but not legal anywhere else. She would be our child but only in Transnistria.
April 11 Started home study process with Adoption Advocates.
May 4 Called Spence-Chapin Adoptions (New York). They are one of the only two agencies with a Moldovan adoption program. The other is North Carolina Adoptions. Supposed to meet with Adoption Advocates for our 2ND home study meeting tonight. After speaking with SC doesn't look like they want us to proceed with this home study. They will not accept a home study completed by and exempt provider. Must use a Hague Accredited agency. Switching gears. Frustrating but hopefully for the best.
May 11 On our behalf, SC contacted a local agency here in GA, "One World Adoptions", to see if they would work with us to complete a home study. Home studies must be completed by someone in the state that you reside and in our case as well as a Hague Accredited provider. Since we are one of SC's networking families they wanted to find a local agency that would work closely together with them.
May 19 Received registration packet from SC - 1st official step in our adoption process!!
May 21 Submitted application to SC
June 4 Partnership with One World and Spence Chapin is officially established. This means we have someone in Georgia that can assist us with a home study. U.S. law requires your home study to be completed by an agency located in the state you reside. Since SC is located in New York they were able to locate and connect with One World here in Georgia. Turns out the director of One World has adopted from Moldova twice. This is pretty much unheard of. Oh, and we're officially accepted into Spence-Chapin's Moldova program!
June 17 Registration phase is complete. Now we begin our next set of paperwork.
June 17 Social worker (Donna) from One World called to let us know she received our application and will be our home study caseworker.
June 22 First meeting with Donna. We love her!
July 7 Received dossier paperwork from SC
August 6 Received draft of home study from caseworker for our review. Yes, we're approved!
August 7 Caseworker sent draft to SC for their review.
August 11 Sent completed Dossier docs back to SC
September 8 Drove into Atlanta to have docs authenticated at State office. Got the runaround. One of the documents was not notarized correctly. Another was not done to "Peter's" liking and needed to be completely redone. I cried in his office and I guess he felt sorry for me because he "let this one slide". Jumped in car and drove 45 min to One World to redo doc. Made it back to Atlanta. All docs are authenticated and ready to be mailed to SC.
September 8 Mailed authenticated dossier docs to SC. From here they will be sent to Moldova to be translated.
September 8 Mailed I800a application to USCIS. 6-8 week wait
September 15 SC mailed Dossier to Moldova for translating (even though we do not have our USCIS approval yet)
September 29 Dossier is in Moldova! Minus the USCIS approval letter which I hope they approve us!
October 2-17 Our agent, Milena Kazakov, will be traveling to Moldova for a conference.
October 18 Milena is back in the office. Can't wait to hear her updates.
October 20 Dossier is translated and ready to be registered with the Ministry of Social Protection. Still waiting on USCIS Approval but Moldova will accept our dossier without this form for now.
October 20 Spoke with our assigned officer with Homeland Security. Our biometrics have been completed and we should have our approval in the mail within the next week.
October 25 Completed POAs for Moldova
October 29 Received our CIS approval from U.S. Immigration! We're approved! Congratulations us! Now back to State office for authentication of this form.
November 2 Back to Atlanta to have CIS approval authenticated. Last document Moldova needs to complete our dossier (for now anyway).
November 2 Emailed copy of approval to Milena. Facilitators in Moldova called this morning wanting us to go ahead and email copy of USCIS form since it will take a few days to get to Moldova. They want to get our dossier through before the Moldovan Parliamentary elections are held (Nov 28). Apparently adoption laws are changing the first of the year "if" a president is elected. New laws are going to be a little more cumbersome but we are hoping to be grandfathered in to the old laws. At this point we are pretty much done with paperwork.
November 12 Dossier has been registered with the Ministry of Social Protection for Families - who oversee international adoptions. This means we can finally say "we are waiting for a referral". We've asked for a little girl age 0-5 years.
November 15 Dossier has been registered with Child Protection Services in Chisinau
November 28 The general elections in Moldova held with no outcome.
December 15 The recount of the votes did not change the parliamentary deadlock. A bloc of pro-European liberals continues to hold 59 seats, and the Communists remain with 42. No group commands a majority of at least 61, required to elect a new President. We have yet to see how this situation will be resolved.
January 18 Social Services granted the Facilitator in Moldova permission to visit orphanages in Chisinau (the capital of Moldova) to try and find a child for our family!
March 23 Informed that the Ministry of Social Protection is now going to be in charge of matching children with families. Our dossier is in their hands. With the new laws that were put in place as of January 31, 2010 there are a few new documents required. Waiting for new documents.
April 5 Completed new docs and mailed to SC. Ministry may or may not accept these documents at this time. We may have to wait until agency has been re-accredited. Due to the new laws, Moldova is requiring agencies in the U.S. to go through this re-accreditation which should be sometime in May.
May 23 Spoke with the man we met on the plane coming home from Moldova. He is from North Carolina and has a business in Moldova. He helps Moldovan students get work visas. He works closely with the US Embassy in Chisinau with immigration and visa processing. He has contacted some people to see if there is anything they can do to help with our situation. We hope this is our answer to finding someone in Moldova to work with our contacts in Transnistria.
May 31 Spoke with agency. Ministry will not accept our new documents until our agency has been re-accredited. Also, re-accreditation will not happen until later this summer - looks like it will be August. In addition, by August most of our documents would be expired (at least 1 year old).
May 31 Chris and I have decided to end our adoption process with Moldova. It was a hard decision but something we've been praying about for the past few months. Not only is the program going through a lot of changes, but after our trip to Transnistria we know that this is where our hearts are. After the conversation with our agency we really feel this path to our child has ended and the door has closed. We will continue to pray for guidance in adopting from Transnistria.
June 1 Sent letter to US Embassy in Chisinau -asking them to put us in contact with someone in Moldova that could tell us what the process would be to adopt a specific child from Transnistria
June 7 Sent a letter to Social Protection in Moldova asking for their assistance with adopting a specific child in Transnistria. While in Transnistria we spoke with several legal experts who are willing to assist us, however, since nothing they do is recognized (except in Transnistria) everything must be redone in Moldova (since Moldova still considers Transnistria part of Moldova). We cannot proceed with anything in Transnistria until we are able to find assistance in Moldova - this process needs to be completed parallel - otherwise we would adopt in Transnistria and be legal there but not legal anywhere else. She would be our child but only in Transnistria.
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