New Pictures--Old News

Still with 2nd Reviewer. We have no idea why PGN will not release our file. Our only option is to wait--wait on PGN, wait on facilitator, wait on adoption agency. We are really tired of waiting and are concerned that the girls are getting older and will have more and more difficulty with the transition as they mature.

We love getting the pictures, but hate seeing them growing up away from home.

Waiting...Past Angry

The "wait a week" has come and gone. It has been 17 days since we were told "wait a week." There is no specific reason for PGN to be holding the girls file. We just wait.

KO'd Again

Kicked out of PGN again on Friday, July 11. This time a seal on one of the girls paperwork was not as clear as the others. We were put back in Monday, July 14. This time the facilitator met with the reviewers and they said that they do not see any other previos. They were told that all twins were being given extra scrutiny. The facilitator also got our files moved to a different reviewer. The facilitator was told "give us a week". We are not quite sure what giving them a week will mean. Check in next week to see.

Waiting...Getting Angry

Evidently PGN decided to let us sit for weeks--no quick review and out for us. We were told Wednesday, July 9 that "the file is down". What that means is that the file is at the window in a pile to be released. Released does not necessarily mean "accepted"; it could mean another previo. The file can not be released either way until the information is put into the computer and we do not know how long it will take to get to our file. We had hoped three days would have been enough time and then we would have learned our fate today. It is now 7:30 in the evening on a Friday so we will not learn anything until Monday or later. Frustrating to say the least!

Back In PGN

Evidently the "incentive" did not move things along any quicker as it still took over a week to get the Mayors signature. The good news is that the Agency says we (the girls files) are back into PGN as of Wednesday, July 2. Optimistically we could hear an approval before the week is out. Or they could let the file sit for weeks. We wait and the girls just get older--14 months July 11.

Previo #3

Kicked out again. PGN found more previos. BM ID with same smudge as previo #2 plus birth mother birth certificate had the mayor's signature not a registrars. Now we have to get the mayor to verify and authenticate that there is no registrar in the town. It is supposed to take a week or more because the mayor is off on one of his drunken spree's. Our lawyer has offer incentive to try to expedite...It would almost be getting funny if we weren't so frustrated.
We have no idea once we are back into PGN how long it will take someone to review the file to release us again with possibly another previo or maybe even release us with an approval = OUT.

Where Are We Now...

We were hoping that we would see some cases (ours would be nice) OUT of PGN considering the latest statements from the Joint Council on International Children's Services.

June 6, 2008
Joint Council is pleased to announce that PGN has released approximately 230 adoption cases today. At this time, there is no estimate of the number of cases with previos, versus the number of cases without. Upon the release of cases by PGN, Joint Council will be providing estimates of the number of cases without previos. Joint Council extends its appreciation to PGN for its release of these cases. We will continue to work with PGN and key stakeholders in Guatemala on the review of the adoption procedure.
June 5, 2008
Joint Council remains seriously concerned about the status of the approximately 2,600 pending adoptions currently being reviewed. It is our understanding that over 260 adoptions have been cleared of serious irregularities yet have not been released by PGN for finalization. For those children whose adoptions have been cleared of any irregularities, it is clearly in the children’s best interest for PGN to release their cases and for the children to be united with their adoptive family. Joint Council again urges the PGN to immediately release all such adoption cases.

Considering this new pressure from JCICS and PGN's statement that "260 adoptions have been cleared of serious irregularities" we had hoped PGN would follow through with their promise to release 230 cases last Friday. It is now the Thursday after and there seems to be very few cases OUT and very little action on the part of PGN.

So the short of it is that we are still stuck in PGN--over 180 days that which by Guatemalan law is only to take 3 days.