So we received an email from Olga at AIA today. To make a long email short, she basically said that they have no news to report on reaccreditation at this point. There have been lots of rumors that have been going around on the various adoption internet chat boards. Some people say their agency told them any day, some people say in August, and so on. The truth of the matter is that Russian Ministry of Education (who is in charge of all this) will reaccredit the remaining agencies when they feel it's appropriate, and nobody knows when that will be. So for now, we wait. Just like we have been doing so far. We wait and hope and pray that this will all get sorted out soon and we can bring our son home. To add to all this, we also learned from Olga that we will need to get a piece of our paperwork re-done. At this point, we will do whatever the Russian government wants us to do, as long as it gets us one step closer to the end. One step closer to holding him in our arms again... but this time it will be forever. So we ask for your support and strength to get through this waiting period. Hopefully we'll get some good news soon.

First some good news. We finally got a small glimmer of hope and received all of the paperwork that we need to submit our final dossier. So we will be mailing the paperwork to AIA along with a check for the first part of our agency fee later today. Yeah! The only thing left to do as far as paperwork is concerned is our medical exams. We had them scheduled for next week but received word from AIA to postpone them for another couple of weeks. The medicals are only good for three months so if we have them too early they might expire before we get our court date in Russia.

On to the rant.... just kidding. It has been a frustrating couple of weeks for Lisa and I. I told myself when we started this process that I was going to be patient, realizing that we were on 'Russia time' when it came to the adoption. I am learning now that it is much easier said than done. For those of you who don't follow the happenings in the Russian adoption community (uh... that's probably most everyone), there was a very unfortunate occurrence in North Carolina 2 weeks ago in which a mother is accused of killing her two-and-a-half year old daughter. The little girl in this case happened to be adopted from Russia. This case has compounded the anti-American sentiment that is present in some sectors of the Russia government. The media in Russia seems to have an anti-American bent to it as well and tends to write inflammatory stories with 'details' that could be true or untrue. So, of course, now there are all sorts of rumors of things like moratoriums, pyschological evaluations before adopting, etc. Meanwhile none of this is helping our agency get any closer to the reaccreditation that they need so we can finish our adoption and bring our son home. We ask all of our friends and family to pray that the Russian officials gain the wisdom and insight to realize that a slow down in the adoption process does not benefit anyone, especially the children waiting to adopted into loving, stable families. We also pray for strength, courage, and patience at a time when it's hard to find any of those things.

I suppose many who follow our blog don't read the comments that are made. Oddly enough Derek made a "comment" on my last post. Here it is:
"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it surely will take place. It will not be delayed." Habakkuk 2:3

Funny thing is, I sent him that verse earlier in the morning. He just took the time to remind me. International Adoption is the biggest emotional roller coaster in the world! One day you are on a slow steady climb the next you are hurdling at breakneck speed into a corner that threatens to whip your head off.

I appreciate all the love and support you have given us!
Blessings, Lisa

all you want is to have your child home in your arms and what seems like the entire world is standing in your way?

Lisa

So there really isn't any news, but quite a few people have been asking for and update. Here is what we know so far.
First I must explain a little bit about accreditation.- Our agency is awaiting reaccreditation. This is essentially their license to work in Russia. Russia began requiring agencies to be accredited in 2001. Each year the agencies have to apply to be reaccredited. Our agency's expired in January. No agencies could be reaccredited because of the new law changes that took place in December and January. They (the Russian Gov't) had to figure out who would issue the reaccreditation. They figured it out and now they are only doing a few at a time. They were supposed to meet last week to issue the new accreditations, but the meeting never happened. Hopefully this week.
Second I have to explain a little about the Federal Data Bank. The Russian Gov't requires all orphans available for adoption to be placed on a Federal Data Bank for 6 months. This is to allow Russians to be able to adopt them first. Once you accept your referral you sign a piece of paperwork (in Russia) that states you wish for them to be removed from the Data Bank so you may adopt them.
So this is how we think the rest of the time is supposed to go. The agency states that without complications it takes 2-3 months to receive a court date. I think that first we have to wait for AIA to be reaccredited. (who knows how long this will take). Then we will have to wait for our release letter. Other families who traveled in late March and early April just received theirs last week. So if our release request was filed before the reaccreditation stop... oh, who knows. After the release letter Irina, our facilitator in Khabarovsk, can then collect Alexander's paperwork and we have yet another medical exam. All of the final paperwork is compiled and approved by a court clerk. The paperwork is then put on a judges desk awaiting a court date. The judge has 60 days to schedule a court date.
My estimate is late September or October. Derek is still holding out on late August or September. I will just be happy if we get to bring him home before Christmas.
We ask that all of you pray for the families waiting. One family with our agency has had their first trip cancelled 3 times! It is just breaking her heart. Please pray that the Russians get this settled so we can bring our children home!
Blessings! Lisa