Wasatch International
Adoptions
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A Child's Way Home
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Wasatch International
Adoptions |
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Again, a reminder that China does allow families of Chinese descent to request their adoption process is expedited. To be classified and eligible to get an expedited adoption, one of the adoptive parents mother AND father must have birth certificates stating they were born in China. Wasatch then will write a letter requesting that the adoption be expedited and that letter is submitted with the dossier. An expedited adoption takes about one half the time of a regular adoption.
If you are interested in additional information about adopting from China, please contact Kathy Junk. You can email her at Kathy@wiaa.org.
Ethiopia – We are thrilled to announce that our
first adoptive family going through the process in Ethiopia has received
a referral for a child. We are hopeful this family will be able to have
this little girl home before Christmas this year. What a great program
this is – it’s fast and the information we get on the children
referred to families is very detailed. There are babies available and
referrals come quickly once the dossier is submitted to Ethiopia. The
timeline from dossier submission to completion is averaging about 6 months.
One trip to Ethiopia is required but the stay in the country is only 5
to 7 days. We are so excited to add this new program to our country adoption
programs and hope you will help us spread the word.
The Blackburn family has given us permission to include a picture of their little girl, Helen, who is just 3 years old. As mentioned, we are keeping our fingers crossed that Helen can be home with her family in time for Christmas! Isn’t she precious !
If you are interested in finding out more about Ethiopia, please email Kathy Junk at Kathy@wiaa.org.
Guatemala – WIA still has 6 families who are waiting
to bring their children home. We realize this is causing a lot of anxiety,
but our attorneys in Guatemala assured us these adoptions would be successful
and these children will come home. Our attorneys are working very hard
to finish up these cases and hopefully they will all be finished up very
soon. Chareyl was also able to visit with all of the children who are
waiting to be able to come home with their adoptive parents. She reports
that each of these children are in loving foster homes and are receiving
great care from these foster families.
What does the future hold for Guatemala? It’s very difficult to say. Many people are working hard to see the doors of Guatemala open up to adoption once again. WIA and other agencies who have worked in Guatemala are keeping our eyes, ears and hearts close to this situation and are praying for a good solution. We will continue to do all we can to advocate for the children of Guatemala.
We also want to welcome home Felicity Hathenbruck, daughter of Steve and Elizabeth Hathenbruck. This family had previously adopted two sons from Guatemala and are now thrilled to have number three safely home with them.
For more on Chareyl’s trip to Guatemala, you can read about her trip a little further on in the newsletter.
Haiti – There is positive news coming out of Haiti
– a new IBESR director has been appointed. Her name is Jeanne Bernard
and we are all hoping she will be adoption friendly, get right to work
and begin signing cases that have been stacking up for some time. We are
hopeful this new appointment is a positive thing for adoptions from Haiti.
WIA continues to work with three fabulous orphanages/organizations in Haiti, Hope for the Little Angels of Haiti, Foyer de Sion and Chances for Children. We want to thank the many families who are adopting from these orphanages. Your support and wonderful humanitarian efforts have truly made a difference in the lives of the children living in these orphanages. Many of our families have raised money to help with the care of these children, and when traveling have taken food, clothing, and other essential things to leave at the orphanage. We want to thank each person who has been involved in these kinds of things and want you to know you have made a remarkable difference in the lives of many.
We understand the wait to complete your adoption can be long and frustrating. We have some suggestions of things you might consider doing while you wait:
Doing these kinds of things don’t make the process finish up faster, but it’s a great way to remain positive during the adoption process.
Also, congratulations to the Woodward family who brought 3 children home recently, the Shirk family who also brought home 3 children, and the Carroll family who just brought home their daughter, Taciana. The Carroll’s sent us a beautiful story about their experience and you can read their story in this newsletter right after our country updates.
If you would like to know more about adopting a child from Haiti, please contact Kathy Junk at Kathy@wiaa.org.
Kazakhstan – We are getting a tremendous amount
of interest in this country’s adoption program and, as always, feel
good about this country. We know that adopting from Kazakhstan can be
a challenging process, but the children are just darling. It looks as
though there is talk about Kazakhstan becoming a Hague country –
nothing definite yet, but this may be what happens down the road. If so,
WIA is in a great position to continue our work in this country. Kazakhstan
is a great country choice for adoption. We remind everyone that adopting
from Kazakhstan isn’t for the timid and faint of heart, but a great
option for those of you who don’t mind adventure. It is important
to remember that the adoption process in Kazakhstan does require a lengthy
stay in the country, requires both parents to travel initially although
one parent can return home in about 2 weeks, and it is a little more expensive
than some other programs. That being said, Kazakhstan is still a great
program for those families who feel that a Caucasian child is the best
fit for their family and for single Mothers who want to adopt. If you
are interested in more information about adopting from Kazakhstan, please
contact Kathy Junk, email address - Kathy@wiaa.org.
Taiwan Special Needs – We are finding there is
an interest in this program and currently have several families who are
adopting children from Taiwan. The process is a little involved, but if
you don’t mind cutting through the red tape to get things going,
this might be a great option for you as an adoptive family. Our Taiwan
program is a special needs program so most of the children have some kind
of physical disability or problem. Often times, however, just being an
older child can throw these children into the special needs category.
We have pictures and medical reports for many children from this country,
all of whom are immediately available for adoption. If you are a family
who feels you are willing and prepared to adopt a child with special needs
or are interested in adopting an older child, this is a great program
for you. For more information about this adoption option, please contact
Kathy Junk at Kathy@wiaa.org.She can
send you the URL to access pictures and medical information about the
children available.
Vietnam
– This country program is currently completely shut down and there
is no new Memorandum of Agreement between Vietnam and the U.S. However,
we continue to keep in contact with our good friends, Trang and Kien,
who live in Hanoi, and they are monitoring things on their side and are
letting us know when they hear anything regarding the possibility of adoptions
from Vietnam opening up again. We continue to hope that a new and more
positive dialogue between both countries will lead to a new agreement
between these two countries. It is rumored that Vietnam will eventually
sign the Hague Convention Treaty and once this is done I am certain new
talks will take place between both countries. This won’t happen
soon, but perhaps over the next year to two years the end result of these
talks will be positive. Our staff in Vietnam is very loyal to Wasatch
and the international adoption process and will still be there for us
if and when things pull together in this country.
Other News
Our Daughter is Home from Haiti by Carol Carroll
After waiting 2 1/2 years we finally brought our sweet little girl home on August 20th! Taciana was only 6 weeks old when we accepted her referral (she will turn 3 yrs in December) so it has been a long wait. It seemed so unreal that we were finally bringing her home. We were stuck in Haiti during one of the hurricanes so that added a little drama to our adventure. When we finally boarded the airplane in Haiti with her in our arms it was a feeling of such relief and excitement we could hardly breathe.
Our whole world is new to Taciana. We are enjoying introducing her to so many things... ice cream, corn-on the-cob, the bathtub, and the trampoline just to name a few. Each day is an adventure as she discovers things she has never seen or done before. Most things she thinks are wonderful, but a few (like stuffed animals) terrify her.
Taciana
is a tease with a sharp sense of humor. She knows how to work an audience
and keeps us laughing constantly. She adores her brothers and sisters
and gets so excited when they come home in the afternoon. She loves to
ride in the car- and begs to go to Grandma's house every time we go anywhere.
She has had some difficult times as she adjusts to her new life. Sometimes
she misses the life she left in Haiti. All the changes can be overwhelming
to her at times. But overall she is adjusting so well and is a joy to
have in our home.
Our
prayers are with all the families who are waiting to bring children home.
The Carroll Family
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Rescue Mission to Guatemala
A couple of weeks ago our Guatmala coordinator, Chareyl Moyes, spent a few days in Guatemala City. While there she was able to visit with many of our old friends and saw first hand how the shut down in Guatemala has negatively affected the children in that country. A few weeks before Chareyl left on her trip, we received an email from an orphanage director Wasatch had worked with in the past. The director of this orphanage is a kind and generous man who has done much for the children of Guatemala. This kind man not only runs an orphanage, he also operates a clinic that provides free medical help to the mothers and children living in his area. He also has a small school for the children in his orphanage so those children receive an education as they grow older. The message from our friend said he had 25 children in his care and was desperate for money to feed these little children. Most of the children in his orphanage have been placed there by the Guatemalan court, but the government gives him no money to care for these children. Not only was he desperate for money to buy food for the children, he was also desperate for money to pay the electric bill, water bill, and the rent on the building that houses the children. In the past the money to pay for the care of the children unavailable for adoption came from placing the children who were available for adoption with families in the U.S. However, now that the U.S. and Guatemalan governments have closed down the adoptions process, there is no way to generate the income needed to care for these little children assigned to him by the court. When petitioning the court for assistance he was told there is no money budged for this. At this point he was in desperate straits and asked for our help.
We immediately sent a plea to our families asking them to help us feed these children. I am thrilled to report that together you donated over $4,000 to help these children. Chareyl was able to take this money with her to Guatemala and distribute this money between two orphanages that were in dire straits. These orphanage directors were able to pay for electricity and water for another month and buy food and diapers which were desperately needed for these children. Chareyl also took suitcases of diapers, clothing, and baby bottles and when she handed these supplies to the orphanage director, he told her that they were down to their very last diaper.
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity and your kind hearts. This was a true rescue mission and the money Chareyl took with her literally saved these children from going to bed hungry each night. For a while they will be fed, diapered and safe. Thank you so much for being a part of this rescue mission.
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If you are interested in donating money to help these children, please contact Kathy Kaiser at director@wiaa.org. WIA is a 501c3 organization and all money donated is considered tax deductible.
In Conclusion
All of us at WIA want you to know how much we appreciate each and every one of you. International adoption is an exciting and rewarding field of endeavor for us. There isn’t anything any one of us would rather do than work with each of you as you go through the adoption process and bring your beautiful little children home. We continue to work on innovative programs in order to provide great service delivery to our adoptive families. We are truly dedicated to helping the children of the world and helping to create happy families.
At this time we want to gently remind everyone that Wasatch Adoptions is not only a child placing agency, but we are also a children’s charity. WIA provides many services to both the people of Utah and to families living all across the U.S. We are one of the few agencies that can work with U.S. citizens living abroad and have a fabulous social worker, Gerald Bowman, who can provide home study and post adoption services to those families living abroad. Being able to keep our doors open and our programs viable is expensive and we are always are in need of financial help and assistance. I cannot let this opportunity go by without reminding everyone that we are actively involved in fund raising and are grateful for any donations given to us. We want to continue to provide the great service we have always been able to give to our community and to families all across the United States as well as U.S. families living abroad. We rely on people like you for money donations in order to keep our doors open and our services to families and children intact. Your donations are always welcome and appreciated, but at this critical time a cash donation to our foundation – small or large – is more appreciated than ever. In a perfect world all children would have mothers and fathers, siblings, and a safe home in which to live and grow to adulthood. Unfortunately our world is not perfect and children everywhere suffer. As you think of your blessings at this bountiful harvest season, don’t forget to share your bounty with those in need. Don’t forget about the children around the world who will never feel the touch of a loving hand or know what it feels like to go to sleep well fed and happy. These children need our help and we can only continue our child assistance programs with your help and your donations. Please partner with Wasatch Adoptions to provide help to these forgotten children around the world. All donations are tax deductible and are considered a charitable donation by IRS.
Thanks
for your continued support and interest in Wasatch Adoptions. We wish
all of you a wonderful autumn season. Our mission and goal is to create
happy families and to work hard to help the children of the world. Thank
you for helping us to achieve this goal.
Sincerely
The Staff of Wasatch International Adoptions
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On
September 19th and 20th WIA took advantage of this great weather and held
a giant Parking Lot sale fundraiser for the agency. In some places around
the country people refer to this as a Tag Sale or Yard Sale. No matter
what it’s called, it was an incredible amount of work and effort.
We asked everyone we knew for donations of articles, clothing, furniture,
etc, and we were able to offer a tremendous amount of things for sale.
Our major donor was Kristine Bateman and we want to thank her for the
tremendous amount of work and energy she put into this project on behalf
of WIA. I also want to think Marilyn Cypers and her husband Manual for
all the time they gave to make this event a successful one and Board members
Roger Wells, Russ LeBarron, Dave Correll and Marilu Trainor for their
time and work – they spent hours and hours helping out. And, thanks
to Ron Haws, another Board member, who donated a really big and really
expensive snow blower to the sale. That snow blower didn’t even
get lifted out of the back of his truck before someone bought it. And,
thanks to both the staff and the prospective adoptive parents who donated
time, effort and “things” to this event! It was a successful
two days, but I’m not beyond admitting that I’m glad this
is over! The money raised will help the agency’s programs go forward
for many months in the future. (-:
As
you read through this newsletter you will find current information about
each of our adoption programs, news about upcoming events, and fun stuff
to read about past events. And, as always, we encourage you to email us
your stories, interesting information, or any comments you would like
us to include in our newsletter. Families involved in international adoption
– no matter what stage of the process they are in – love to
read about other families who are doing the same thing they are. You can
email me at 
Domestic
Program – Even though our domestic program is off to a
slow start, we have everything in place and are aggressively trying to
recruit birth mothers into this program. Our domestic program is still
not really open for prospective adoptive families but we hope in the near
future we can offer this program to all who want to adopt a child through
the domestic adoption process. If any of you know of anyone who may want
to place a child for adoption, we hope you will tell them about Wasatch
Adoptions. We have a wonderful birth mother program and we help birth
mothers understand and identify many long term, positive options for their
future. We can also assist those who might not have medical coverage to
access Medicaid, Baby Your Baby or other free services. We hope that all
of you will remember us if you have knowledge of someone who might need
our services. I know this was listed in our last newsletter, but just
as a reminder these services include:
Bulgaria
– We have tremendous interest from families who want to adopt a
child from Bulgaria and lots of families who are now in the adoption process
for Bulgaria. The children available in Bulgaria are often times of Roma
or Gypsy descent, but there are also Bulgarian children available for
adoption. In the past WIA had a huge adoption program in Bulgaria and
placed hundreds of children from this country. We are so thrilled this
country has once again opened their doors to international adoption and
we look forward to being able to place many children from this country
in the future. The process is new, but moving along, and we feel good
about recommending Bulgaria to prospective adoptive families. There are
both boys and girls available from this country and the ages of available
children range from toddler age to about 7 years of age. If you would
like more information about adopting from Bulgaria, please email Kathy
Junk – her email address is 
China – CCAA still remains very slow in issuing
referrals and families are frustrated because of the long wait time. We
are still waiting to see if things pick up at this point since the Olympics
are now over. If things do speed up it may take up to a year or so before
we really see the changes. CCAA just finished issuing referrals for LID’s
through February 15, 2006 and CCAA has finished the review of dossiers
submitted through February 2007. We continue to sympathize with the families
who have been waiting so long and we realize how difficult this is to
have to wait for over 2 years to get a referral. I know these are the
same words we wrote in our last update for China, but all of us continue
to pray that all of you in this program can hang in thee and know that
this will eventually happen for you.