Wasatch International Adoptions Newsletter

Summer - 2010

Welcome to our summer addition of the WIA newsletter.   It’s been longer between newsletters than it should have been and spring seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye.  The staff of WIA sends our best wishes for a wonderful summer season.   As for all of us at Wasatch Adoptions, we have been very busy, there are many new things happening, and hopefully this newsletter will bring everyone up to date and be interesting and informative to all.  Here we go with the…

Miscellaneous “stuff”

Wasatch is now on Face Book – We are pleased to announce that we have joined the 21st  
Century and now have a Wasatch face book account.  Please log on and send us a friend request – we would like to gather in as many Wasatch families as possible.  Face book is a great way to stay in touch with other adoptive families, exchange ideas, post upcoming events, and show off pictures of your kids.  If you would like to join us on face book contact Sara Junk – she can help you get signed up.    Or, you can find us at this link - http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ogden-UT/Wasatch-International-Adoptions/106053086113535?ref=search,\. 

New Office Staff – We are pleased to announce Sara Junk will now be taking over as our new “front desk” person.  She will be the first person families see when they enter our office and the first voice they will hear on the phone when calling us.  Sara is wonderful and has promised to stick around for at least 2 to 3 years.  We are going to hold her to that promise – she’s doing a wonderful job and we feel really lucky to have her as our newest employee.  And, just a heads up - if any of you are wondering if she is related to Kathy Junk, our inquiry specialist for the last 10 years or so, the answer is yes – she is Kathy’s daughter in law.  J

Grants and Loans - We have a wonderful Mom going through the adoption process who has done a tremendous amount of research to find and successfully apply for grant money to help with adoption costs.  This sweet Mom is willing to share this information with anyone interested in finding out about her research.  You can read about this information by clicking on this link -Grants-  and if you have questions about anything regarding these grants you can email Amber Johnson at 6dwarfs@live.com

Perpetual Adoption Loan - Please don’t forget that WIA also partners with A Child’s Hope Foundation to provide low interest loans to qualifying families.  This Perpetual Adoption Loan program will grant loans up to $5,000 and the loan can be paid back over a two year period.    If you are interested in finding out more about the Perpetual Adoption Loan program, please contact Kathy Junk, email address kathy@wiaa.org.

Annual Picnic – On Saturday, June 26th, we had a great time at our annual picnic.  It’s so wonderful to see our families attending these fun picnics year after year.   Each year we get to see these little children growing, thriving and making friends with each other.  It’s also a wonderful time for adoptive families to get together and visit with each other.  We so appreciate the support we get from our families and want them to know how wonderful it is to see them each year. 

We have heard from many families living out of the state of Utah that they would love to come to the picnic and would be willing to plan a summer vacation to Utah if only they knew way ahead of time when the picnic would be held.  So, we are letting everyone know right now that our annual picnic will ALWAYS be held the last Saturday of June and if there is any way you can attend we would love to see you.  Mark your calendars for next year!  J

Here are some of the fun pictures Joe Haney took for us at the picnic.  We’re grateful for his willingness to help us out with pictures as nobody working at the agency remembered to bring a camera.

There were so many cute pictures!  Joe, you did an amazing job.  J

Country Updates

Bulgaria – The news is good for Bulgaria and this program is turning out to be a great option for families.  The Ministry Of Justice, the department over adoptions, continues to meet regularly every month and referrals are made in each meeting.  We are still seeing mostly older and Special Needs children referred, but we have heard that many children (including healthy and younger) will be added to the list of waiting children this summer.  Of course, time will tell, but we are hopeful this will happen.  We have also had some interest from some of our families in looking at “Mild Special Needs” children. One family is home with their little girl and another is hoping to adopt a little girl with some visions problems, but otherwise seems on target for a toddler.   Many families are interested in this program, so we really hope to see referrals come more quickly, the wait time is currently approx. 18- 24 months for a younger healthy child.  For more information about adopting from Bulgaria, contact Kathy Junk – email kathy@wiaa.org. 

Michael and Pam Miller just brought their daughter, Krassi, home from Bulgaria and sent us this picture for our newsletter.  A picture is worth more than words can ever convey.

China – The wait for a referral for our China program is still very, very long.  We feel very fortunate that we have also been approved for a China Special Needs Child program so that families interested in adopting from China can still have this option open to them.  Our waiting child program has been very active and very successful.  We have placed many, many children with minor special needs and these placements have been very successful.  The children are absolutely darling, their health issues have been mild and correctable, and the timeline is fairly fast – usually an adoption can be completed within about 12 to 14 months from beginning to end.  We cannot say enough about this adoption option and encourage anyone interested in adopting a child from China to consider a child with special needs.  At this point the program remains stable and predictable and families who have their children home tell us they are thrilled with the process and totally in love with their children.  We have the most wonderful staff anyone could ask for – Kathy Junk is fabulous and helps families obtain a referral for the child they adopt, Sabrina Chang, Marilyn Cypers works closely with all of our families to complete the paperwork needed for a China adoption, and when the time arrives to pick up your child our China liaison, Sabrina Chang,  works directly with families to help them plan and organize their trip to China.  Once they arrive in China our very capable Judy Wu and her staff takes over and helps each family finish up the adoption process.   The China program is one of our most popular programs.  If you are interested in learning more about adopting from China contact Kathy Junk – email kathy@wiaa.org.

Democratic Republic of Congo – This is a new program to us and is turning out to be a great option for families.  Because this is a new program we have accepted 10 families to be our trail blazers, but as soon as we see some of these initial 10 families coming home with their children we will open this program up to more families.  Right now there is a waiting list for people interested in applying for this adoption program.  As a heads up for interested families, you need to know there are a couple of strict requirements families must meet in order to adopt from this country.  Couples must have been married at least 5 years and cannot have more than 2 children living in the home, but if you meet these two requirements Congo is a great choice.    If you are interested in talking to us about adopting from this country contact Kathy Junk – email address kathy@wiaa.org.

Family Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - The children of one of our sweet families adopting from the Congo sponsored a project to earn money to help the children living in the Our Lady of Joyful orphanage in Kinshasa.  When we asked the orphanage director what would be the most helpful thing we could do for the orphanage, she told us that there was no shade of any kind on the orphanage compound and what the children needed most is a shelter that would provide shade for the children as they played outside.   The children who spearheaded this project worked very hard and were able to earn and collect enough money to build a sheltered play area for the children.  After the project was completed, the Sisters of Our Lady of Joyful Orphanage sent us these pictures of the finished play area.  What happiness this shelter from the sun brought to these children.  There are many projects like this that could benefit not only the children of the Congo, but in other countries also.  And, what true blessing this shelter is to these children!  If you are interested in participating in a project,  please contact Kathy Kaiser for more information – email address director@wiaa.org.
                               

Ethiopia – This program has seen a few changes over the past year, but continues to be a great program for families.   The biggest change this past year is that two trips are now required rather than one trip.  However, referrals are coming fairly quickly and the children we have placed are doing absolutely great.   One adoptive family who attended our picnic last week said their child was absolutely the most beautiful child ever and they love and adore him more than they could have ever imagined.  Just recently Ethiopia has given permission for us to place children with HIV.  This special program is not for everyone, but for those who feel they would be open to helping a child with HIV, Ethiopia is a country that will allow the placement of their HIV children.  If you are interested in adopting from Ethiopia contact Kathy Junk – email address kathy@wiaa.org.
 
Haiti – We have had hundreds of calls from families who are interested in adopting from Haiti.   Adoptions are still processing in Haiti and hopefully we will have a detailed update on the status of adoptions in the next month or so.  For right now, here are some helpful answers to questions we have been asked:

Can families still adopt from Haiti?
Since IBESR has announced they are accepting new dossiers, it is important to note that the same dossier requirements as before the earthquake must be met to adopt from Haiti.  At this time it is unclear how long the inter-country adoption process from Haiti may take.  Before the earthquake the process was averaging approximately two years from the time of dossier submission with some adoptions taking three to five years.   Although WIA has extensive experience with Haiti, we are still proceeding with caution when accepting families who want to adopt from Haiti.  In most cases the children available for adoption have experienced trauma and adoptive parents must understand this fact and be willing to obtain additional education and training in order to provide for the special needs these children have.

Who qualifies to adopt from Haiti? 
The only adoption laws on record in Haiti were written in 1974.  These laws were essentially written for Haitian citizens adopting Haitian children and were not intended for inter-country adoption.  The 1974 law greatly restricts the eligibility of prospective adoptive families.  At this time it is our understanding that IBESR is still following the 1974 laws to approve potential adoptive families for adoption, however, in some instances those not meeting these requirements can obtain dispensation. 

How many children are orphaned or living in orphanages in Haiti?
Right now there is no statistical information on how many orphaned children there are in Haiti.  In the year 2007 it was estimated that there were 380,000 children who were homeless and had no family taking care of them.  Obviously the numbers of homeless and orphaned children have increased significantly since the earth quake. 

We are truly proceeding cautiously in Haiti but you may be able to adopt a child from this country if you can qualify under the Haitian adoption laws.   For more information about adoptions from Haiti please contact Kathy Junk – email address kathy@wiaa.org.

Kazakhstan – this program is currently not accepting new dossiers at the Consulate level.  The country of Kazakhstan is currently going through The Hague accreditation process and hopes to have their procedures completed and in place in the next few months.    Becoming Hague compliant isn’t as difficult for Kazakhstan as they began this process some time ago.  All families with a dossier already in the country are processing through as usual.  The only change at this point is that no new dossiers will be accepted until Hague procedures are implemented and the country is in compliance with all Hague requirements.  Families are still encouraged to call and inquire about adoption from Kazakhstan, but will be unable to begin the adoption process or gather dossier documents due to this delay and the time sensitivity of the documents needed for the dossier.  If you are interested in learning more about adoptions from Kazakhstan, please contact Kathy Junk – email address kathy@wiaa.org.

Taiwan – This program has been a great alternative option for families who want to adopt an Asian child but don’t qualify to adopt from China.  There are pictures of the children who are available from this country on our website  -  http://www.wiaa.org/children_list.asp .  Most of the children are considered “special needs” but often time the reason for this designation is that Taiwan considers any child 5 years old or older a special needs child because of their age.   The adoption process is a bit quirky but the families who have adopted from Taiwan have told us their experience was great and their children are doing well.  If you are interested in adopting from Taiwan, contact Kathy Junk – email address kathy@wiaa.org.

Conclusion

All we can say is thank you for your on-going and continued interest in international adoptions.  We appreciate all the things you as subscribers have done for the children of the world over the years.  We have sponsored programs for children all around the world, given humanitarian aid to those in need, and have found loving homes for hundreds and hundreds of children.  Here’s wishing you a wonderful and exciting summer with lots of relaxation, family events and fun in the sun!       

Sincerely
The Staff of Wasatch International Adoptions