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Hello,
We have been in process of adopting a child from Vietnam since July 2007.(we are #180 on the list) The US and Vietnam governments are not agreeing on some issues,this is placing about 3000 families in limbo if their adoption is not done by 9/1/08. We have the Joint Council fighting for the orphans and adoptive families, please help us with this cause. The first request is to sign an on line petition.

1. Email advocate@jcics. org no latter than 5/30 all you have to say is

"YOU SUPPORT "A CHILD'S RIGHT CAMPAIGN FOR VIETNAM"

2. *On June 2,3 or 4th call your Senator & Representatives and tell them

""I/we urge the Senator/Congressper son to join the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Co-Chairs and sign their letter to Secretary Condoleezza Rice in support of the recommendations found in Joint Council's A Child's Right Campaign for Vietnam."

Please follow up with an email to them. How do I get the phone numbers? Follow theses links, you should be able to put in your zip code and your government contacts for your area will come up.

http://www.house. gov/ (your House of Representivies)

http://www.senate. gov/ (your Senators)

Thank you very much for your support,and if possible can you pass this request on to
others that may help us.

HELP

Adoption agencies do feel that it is a very critical time for the Vietnam adoption program. That is why we are going to be asking for your help shortly to contact all of your state representatives and urge them to sign an agreement with Vietnam . JCICS (Joint Council on International Children’s Issues) is a child welfare organization. This organization advocates on behalf of children who need permanent, safe, and loving families. Next Monday, JCICS will be launching a campaign to pressure the State Department to settle its dispute with Vietnam and sign a new agreement that will continue adoptions after September 1st. On Monday, there will be specific times and days for you to call your state representatives and ask them to sign onto this initiative. The idea is to “get their attention.” We want thousands of families to call at the same time so that congress will know we are serious about this. We also feel at this time that congress needs to step in and pressure DOS (the Department of State) to sign a new agreement with Vietnam . Who can call? EVERYONE. On Monday when this is announced, I will be sending the information out to everyone. Please call our local state representative. This is only going to work if many members of congress sign onto the initiative. If only a few members of congress get involved the issues will be dropped. So be looking for something next Monday, May 12th, 2008 (www.jcics.org). We are asking to please help us with this. If you have 15 minutes in your day you could make a difference. Thanks for your continued support!

Family Photos

We got frustrating news

We got the bad news! We knew this was a possibility that Vietnam would close! It's seems so final. I was with my sister. I read the e-mail to her as I fought back the tears. I finally just cried. All she knew to say was I am sorry. It was a dagger in my heart. I have in visioned this sweet little boy in my head for months. I often image what it will be like to hold him for the first time, and to look into his sweet little eyes. I know that we will have our family complete when it is time. We are going to wait it out until closer to the Sept deadline then figure out what we will do. If we were to make a decision today it would be a hasty one based on anger and disappointment. With more knowledge we will be better informed and possibly feel whatever decision we make will be the right one. Here is the letter that our adoption agency sent out to give us the news. They really have been wonderful in keeping us informed.


Dear families,
We are aware that the below statement was posted to the US Embassy web site today. We can confirm that a letter was written by the DIA to the US embassy in response to a letter that was sent in February 2008 from the US Embassy to DIA. We are currently trying to obtain a copy of the letter or information directly from the DIA as to what the letter included. The DIA has also stated that they will be having a meeting with all US agencies soon (no date has been determined) to go over this new information.
We have also been told by DIA that the President of Vietnam will be coming to the US in June and one of the items they will be discussing will be the contents of a new agreement between the US and Vietnam.
We know that everyone is very worried about the current situation and anxious to know how this information is going to affect you specifically. Please know that we are doing our best to obtain information and we will share factual information with all of you as we receive it. Please know we are here to support you and realize what a difficult time this is for every Vietnam family. We ask that everyone continue to pray that the two governments will reach a new agreement as soon as possible for the sake of all the children in Vietnam that need homes.
Here is the link with the announcement:
http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/irreg_adoptions0408.html

With that being said here is a few things that have been in newspapers.

Associated Press published details of a U.S. Embassy report that outlined rampant abuses, including hospitals selling infants whose mothers could not pay their bills, brokers scouring villages for babies and a grandmother who gave away her grandchild without telling the child's mother.

Vietnam announced Monday it is halting all U.S. adoptions following allegations of baby-selling, corruption and fraud.In its nine-page report, the U.S. Embassy said some American adoption agencies paid orphanage officials as much as $10,000 per referral, while others took them on shopping sprees and junkets to the United States in return for a flow of babies.

Keep all those children in your prayers that are alone tonight. They are sweet little spirits that need Mommies and Daddies. They need to be loved as much as anyone else.

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Still Waiting

I have not been able to write for a long time because I have been having a pity party for my self. Here is a brief update on our journey to our son. We found out a couple months ago that the agreement between the US and Vietnam probably would not be re-signed. What does that mean to us? Well this particular agreement is called a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU"). You can go to this govt website to read the government warning
http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/intercountry/intercountry_3939.html

The other issue is that the agency that we are with is in the process of getting Hauge certified. There have been lots of rumors that Vietnam is only going to work with Hauge agencies.

1. Hague Rumor.

We understand that a rumor is spreading that the State Department will require Vietnam to become a party to the Hague Convention before a new Memorandum of Understanding can be signed. We have confirmed with the Department of State that this rumor is false.

As the U.S. is poised to enter the Convention, it is, of course, recommending that all countries become parties. Under the Convention, bilateral agreements like the one the Vietnamese government requires are not necessary. However, the U.S. is fully aware that the process of becoming a party to the Hague is serious and time intensive, and there is no expectation that Vietnam will become a party to the Hague before the current agreement expires in September. The U.S. will thus be conducting negotiations with Vietnam on renewing the MOU.


We hear so many different things. It is very frustrating. Patience is essentail. I know that Heavenly Father is looking out for us. Our son will come when it is the right time. I really need to focus on the time that I have with my beautiful children, and cherish the moments that we have. We have wavered back and forth to switch countries. Every time that comes to our thoughts, we know that we are just getting anxious. We have prayed about this, and know this is right. We know that this will be taken care of and Heavenly Father listens to us. I know that prayers are not answered immediately and sometimes they are not the answer that we are looking for, but it's not our plan. He has planned our lives and we just need to listen to his guidance. We are now just in a holdng process. We thank all of our friends and family that are taking this journey with our family. We could not ask for more support.

An update on our family! Well Jeff and I have been married now almost 61/2 years. WOW!!! 3 children later and one on the way. Things are good. Lil Jeff is doing great. Loving school and Mama. He told me that he does not want any more birthdays after 6, so he can live with us forever. He is playing baseball. He is really getting the hang of things.. He is an amazing little boy. Lola is great she is just beautiful,confident and very independent. She is taking dance 2 times a week. Loves is so much. Her goal is to be a Cardinals cheerleader. Yea Daddie. Little Sophie is great! Oh and by the way she owns us. She works us daily. She is becoming a beautiful little toddler. She still smiles all the time. Her eyes sparkle. Her favorite thing to do is read, read, read. Everyday books are every where. We are about to start the potty train thing. Our family is planning a trip to Arizona this summer to see Nana and Papa, and a trip to see my sister and friend Jenn in Atlanta. We have made some new friends finally in Jacksonville. Yeah, it's about time. We are doing great. We enjoy our family a lot. We love our church it has brought so much to our lives. We love being LDS. We love knowing that our family is for eternity. Keep little Ryne (Ryno) in your prayers.

We have been put on the list

We are so excited to say that we have been put on the list! I know that we have another long journey ahead of us, but we will take that day by day. I just keep thinking about this mother who is pregnant carrying our child or has already given birth, and the decison that she will make. Being a mother of 3 I can't image having to make that decision. She must be a really heroic mother to do that. I know we sill have so long to wait, but the long to hold this little guy is so strong. We found out on Novermber 8, 2007 by e-mail that we have been on the list. Here is the e-mail:

Hi Jeff and Laura,

We did receive your CIS approval and check in the amount of $4790 for your dossier fee. I have placed you on the wait list as requesting a male child 12-18 months of age and open to Cleft Lip. I will be sending you a letter which states you are a waiting family and will include a travel guide for you to look through.

Congratulations for completing this step!!

Take care,

Angie Thorn

I-171H YEA!

It's Nov 2, and we received our I-71H. I am so excited that we can finally get placed on the wait list. We are soooo excited. The other neat thing is I got the I71H on my 30Th birthday. It has been a awesome day.

Homestudy (COMPLETED!!!!!!!!!!!)

Wonderful – then I will put the home study in the mail this morning. Cathi Moore reviewed and approved it as on Wednesday afternoon.

Lori Fraas, L.C.S.W.
Executive Director

Yea those were the words that I read this morning at 7:26am on Thursday October 11,2007.
Wow I am very happy. We are on to the next step in this wonderful journey to our little boy.

Passports

Today we got all of our passports for the kids from Fedex. We are taking all of our children with us to Vietnam, so we knew that they would each need one. The kids were very excited to see their pictures in the passport book. I can't believe that this is really going to happen. The excitement is overwhelming

Mom and Dad Bouchy ( E-mail about Ryne)

Hi,
We read your email and thought it is a beautiful introduction to one of the best goals in life-adoption.
Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.
Give everyone a kiss and hug from us.
We love you,
Mom and Dad

I-600A

It's Saturday about 2:24pm, and we just got a letter from CIS that they received our application. It takes (90) days to process, and (60) days to process the fingerprint application form. We are moving right along.

Just getting started

We were so excited after we went to a CHI informational meeting about adoption. We got my sister to babysit for us that Saturday. We walked into to the door, and the spirit really touched us. Our eyes filled with tears, and we both said this is it, this is right. We knew at that moment. It was the right time to bring another little life into our family. July 5, 2007 we sent in all of our paper work. I was pacing the floors waiting for approval. I called the Missouri office. The lady that answered the phone said it's funny because I was just about to call you. She told me that we were approved. We then got another packet in the mail to get started. We mailed in our I-600A and got our home study agency. We recently just got back the I-600A because the fees changed. We mailed it in one day late. We were really bummed, but it's part of the process.