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The holidays were great to spend with family but as I wrote before they were quite difficult knowing our Mia was a thousand miles away. Early January came and we still awaited our I-171H. Through www.adoption.com we learned quite a bit about starting a lifebook. Kristina threw herself in the project to help fill the evenings when our conversations inevitably came around to Mia.
Then on January 12th after many phone calls back and forth with the BCIS office in Alexandria, VA we received Mia’s I-171H. The next month and a half was a blur and one I can’t imagine living through again. Take a look back as we read from our journal over that period.
Monday, January 12, 2004
Our I-600A Form is processed and approved!!!
Thank you kindly Ms. _____________!What does an approved I-600A do for us?
The great news that our I-600A has being approved is monumental in our adoption. Shouts of joy filled our offices at Liberty University when this news was received! The I-600A is an advance petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative of a US citizen before the child is located. This form is filed with the BCIS and then the wait begins for approval. Unfortunately, these offices are incredibly understaffed and so processing takes a considerable time. We have been sent notice of approval on what is known as an I171H form. At the same time, a cable or fax known as a Visa 37 was sent to a location we’ve specified (US Embassy in Guatemala City) where we will be adopting a child. Once received at the embassy, we are then eligible to meet with Immigration officers after the Guatemalan side of our adoption is complete so they can inspect the Guatemalan paperwork, little Mia’s medical exam, and then we complete the actual I-600A“>I-600 form which classifies Mia as an immediate relative to Kristina and I. This will all be done at the embassy in Guatemala. This should take only a matter of days since the legalities of Mia being classified as an orphan were much simpler than if she had any family members who had come forward to claim her.
This last statement was made to us by our lawyer and turned out to be completely false. Her abandonment is precisely what brought about the long process we would go through.
When do we leave?
We want to leave today, but right now would do nothing for us. Mia is still in the orphanage in Antigua and we would not be able to take custody of her yet. Unlike many children in the orphanage, Mia’s relatives are unknown and so she is classified as abandoned. While this was a horrible thing to be forced to do, it unfortunately is a decision many parents are forced to make due to poverty and other circumstances where they are. The orphanage is required to run a classified ad for 3 months announcing that this baby appeared to be abandoned and that someone wished to adopt her. If after 3 months she is not claimed (how horrible does that sound, it is the terminology used though), she can legally be considered an abandoned orphan. This is where we are today on the Guatemalan side of things. A Juvenile Court judge must declare her to be legally abandoned at this time. Through the holidays, we assume that many items of business awaited this particular judge when she returned in January along with reviewing Mia’s case. Once she comes to Mia’s case, she will legally declare her an orphan and meet with our lawyer to discuss granting custody to us. Once this meeting has occurred or possibly while it is occurring, we will be called to travel to Guatemala. We will then take custody of Mia (kind of like foster parents) while we await the finishing touches of the Guatemalan adoption process. Mia will be checked by US embassy approved physicians for her medical exams. We will also do many required vaccinations at this time as well. After the adoption is finalized which since the paperwork is completed even now, we are told by the court it won’t take long at all, our lawyer will set up a meeting with the US Embassy. We must pay a $335 fee, meet with an immigration officer, and as said above, complete the actual I-600 form in his presence. Mia will be declared our daughter in the US government’s eyes and then a US Citizen. We then get to come home as a family and share over and over our testimony of God’s grace.
Ahh if it had only been that simple. The half truths we were told to get us there were pretty convincing to a young couple learning this process on the fly. The judge didn’t want to meet with us to approve us but to see whether or not we were serious about the process. The events of the next week set the course for the next year and a half and altered our lives forever.
February 23rd, 2004
We received the call from our lawyer in late January that the judge wants to go ahead and meet with us. Our lawyer said we needed to be there in February. We were also told by the courts through our attorney that we should come prepared to care for the baby as they are looking to place her in our care rather than the foster care of Marcelo and his wife. Our friend in Bienstar Social had us approved as a foster family for Guatemalan children. Kristina would still have to live in Guatemala while the paperwork for the adoption was completed. She would be in our custody however!
We traveled to Guatemala on February 4th, 2004 (Happy Birthday for Cody’s Dad!). We drove to Quetzaltenango a couple days later. This is a 4 hour grueling trip. When we arrived at the family court in Quetzaltenango, we were told by the officials of the court that we did not have everything required in order to meet with the judge. Marcelo, our lawyer, and the officials argued as Kristina and I watched puzzled and increasingly worried. The judge wanted us to have a psychological evaluation that was performed here in Guatemala by the court psychologist in Quetzaltenango. Marcelo looked frustrated as did our lawyer Edwin. Marcelo told us it would take all day and maybe even a day or two more to complete the test. We needed a translator from the court who, under the table, would cost a lot of money. If we hoped to get our baby, it would be necessary though.
Finally we were asked to follow the psychologist to her office. There we met a young girl named Maria Jose who would translate for us. We learned that she was on duty when Maria Rene was found and that she actually named her Maria Rene. She was very happy that we were going to name her Mia and keep Rene as her middle name. The psychologist began by asking our motives for adoption, about our marriage, etc. It was a great time as she seemed genuinely interested. Maria cried with Kristina as she had to recount the heartache of not being able to have children. Then the psychologist asked us to draw a picture, pick our favorite color, and answer about 10-20 questions. With that she stated (through Maria) “It is a difficult job placing children with families knowing you may never see them again.” She said “God has trusted us with the responsibility of putting these families together but at the same time protecting the children.” She finished by saying “It is wonderful to know that this child will be going to a home that knows God and where she will be loved. Please let us know how she is when you get her home. I don’t need to continue as I have seen and heard all I need to know.”
We left the office stunned. Marcelo asked if we were taking a break after 1/2 an hour. We said that we were finished and then he too was stunned. He asked her if everything was OK and she said absolutely. She said she would have to provided a written evaluation before we could see the judge but that it should be done before we were scheduled to return to the US. We weren’t too excited about another trip but we were prepared to do what it took.
So we waited…and waited…and waited. Finally, the judge told our attorney many days later that things didn’t seem right with the evaluation and as it stood she would not place Mia with us. Before informing us of this, he wisely arranged with the judged for more evaluations. This time we would meet with the chief court psychologist in Guatemala city and a private psychologist that works with our attorney on occasions.
To say that these evaluations were extensive is an understatement. We met with the court psychologist over a 3 day period for a total of about 18 hours. She gave of her time after hours, on the weekend, and we even met at the home of one of her family members in order to complete the evaluation before I had to return to the United States. She was very kind and helpful. However we had begun to lose confidence in anyone as we felt the same after our meeting in Quetzaltenango. The meeting with the private psychologist was much of the same over the same 3 days. All in all, we answered about 1000 questions each as well as many subjective tests.
The chief psychologist explained that the first psychologist we met with in Quetzaltenango had performed an incorrect examination on us. Her test was to be used for the illiterate constituents of the area (60%-70%). It contained references to the culture of the area, slang, and local references in some of the questioning which we could not be familiar with. Therefore the results we not clear at all. The goal of these new examinations were to give overwhelming evidence that what she had performed was wrong. However, the time I had in Guatemala had run out so we were forced to make the decision to separate. Kristina would wait for the results in hopes of taking custody of Mia. She had resigned her position at Liberty University in hopes of becoming a mother this week.
So on February 23rd, I left for the United States and Kristina remained at the home of Marcelo and Gabby Diez. This was the first time in our 7 year marriage that we would be apart for more than 3 days. The results of the examination would not be known for days. Even after the results were known, the judge would have to review and set a new meeting to discuss the discrepancy. To say that I left with lots of unknowns would be quite accurate. So the journey continued…
Just wait until you read what happened after this!
The Mummau Series
1. Choosing To Adopt
2. Why International? Why Guatemala?
3. The Call From Guatemala
4. The Process Begins
5. A Prelude To Mia
6. How Can You “Choose” A Child – Leaving Others Behind?
7. Peer Into The Heart – Journal Entries
8. Meeting Maria – Finding Mia
9. Leaving Our Daughter…is that…no way!
10. Rivers of Waiting
11. Mistakes, Intentions, and Naivety – How Hope Began To Die
12. Alone in Guatemala and Waiting
13. Time Marches On – Goodbye Mia for Now
14. Joyful Gringos in Quetzaltenango
15. Mia Mia
16. Abuela Comes To The Rescue
17. Doctors, Couriers, and Delays
18. Even So, You Won’t Believe This
19. The Summer of Frustration Ends
20. Fall Approaches with Broken Hearts…Teeth
21. 1600 Miles from Tecpan (pt.1)
22. 1600 Miles from Tecpan (pt.2)
23. Kristina Comes Home
24. Mia’s First Steps
25. December’s Momentum
26. An Angel In The Embassy? I
27. An Angel in the Embassy? II
28. A Christmas to Remember…and Forget
29. Daddy’s 2nd Visit
30. Clash at The Embassy
31. We’re In The PGN! OK Let Us Out!
32. Accomodations
33. The Pencil – Never Give Up
34. Exiting the PGN…sort of
35. Exiting the PGN…yet again
36. Daddy Has Enough
37. The Countdown Begins
38. Easter Brings Hope
39. Sit With Me in San Cristobal
40. T-Minus a few things and counting
41. My New Favorite Color
42. Hope Becomes Reality-The Embassy Interview
43. Mia Mummau Goes Home
More blogs about Guatemala Adoption.
