Days Away From our Referral and a New Government Obstacle

Yesterday we got word from our adoption agency that they wanted us to contact our Home Study Agency to get an addendum filled out and sent to USCIS (Dept. of Homeland Security). Evidently, there have been more and more children who when they go to pass through the final medical exam have been found to have something that was missed on the original medical exam. Even if it is simply a mole, or maybe a sickness with a temperature, instead of being classified as "healthy", they are deemed a child with a "minor correctible problem". IF your Home Study didn't have it written that you were approved for such a child, you had to in the past simply get your Home Study Agency to send out an addendum and it was done in a matter of hours.

As of July 1, the new director at the Consulate wants the wording on our I171H. In order to do this, you have to get your addendum and have it sent through our Government's channels. This usually takes several weeks.

To prepare for this eventuality, we were told to get an addendum now because neither our Home Study nor our I171H has this wording. But when I wrote to our Home Study Agency I was told that the adjudicate in North Carolina refuses to do just an addendum. They feel the law is clear that to change your 171H, you need a completely re-done Home Study. This means an additional fee of $800 at this point (expedited), plus physicals for all of us, criminal reference checks, a child abuse check, interviews in the home, and financial record updates. All of this would total approximately $1400 and we don't even know if there is time enough to get all of this completed and returned before our Mid-September travel.

We have the option NOT to do the Home Study update and "hope for the best". What does that mean? Does it mean that we get all the way to the last day in China and find out there is a problem and have to leave our daughter there? Does it mean that we would have to wait until new paperwork goes through our government channels? Would we have to come home and do a Home Study and go back to China again?

We are waiting to hear from our adoption agency about what they would advise next. They are aware of our unemployment situation and know that we are just days from getting our referral. I have no idea how this is going to play out but I am trusting that God is bigger than China's red tape OR America's red tapel If he wants us to get our Grace, he will.

My Mom says this is our labor pains. They are painful, intense, and filled with both tears and longing for our Grace.

Will you pray for us and for our Grace that God would clear any obstacles and work miracles on our behalf and provide generously to meet our financial needs?

And to our dear daughter who will one day read of all of these labor pains -- you are so worth it my child. You are wanted and dearly loved and we will do all we can to bring you home.

Sharon