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As June began to progress so did the frustration both Kristina and I felt as we lived our lives 1600 miles a part. Having Grammy visit was an incredible blessing for me and for Kristina. For me I was happy to know that someone was there caring for Kristina as she learned to care for Mia. For Kristina, just having family there was awesome. It was so difficult to say good-bye but it was a nice rest to give a reprieve from the frustrations we were feeling.
Just before Grammy came, Kristina drove to Quetzaltenango with Mia and the wife of a Guatemalan Congressman. Mia’s paperwork was to be completed so our lawyer could prepare it and submit it to the US Embassy for pre-approval and then off we go with the rest of the adoption. When Kristina arrived at the courthouse, she waited to see our friend and court translator Maria. To her surprise there were no documents to take back with her. Instead Maria told Kristina that the judge had ordered a doctor to give Mia a physical examination to evaluate to see her age. She wasn’t comfortable just going with the police records documenting that she was found as a newborn in August 2003. Kristina pleaded in tears with Maria who sympathized but was powerless to help. She said that the doctor’s examination and results would not take very long. Kristina had her doubts.
Shortly after meeting with Maria, Kristina took Mia to see the physician who examined Mia and took X-Rays of her hands and arms. He gave her a clean bill of health and was pleased at how she was developing even after such a short time in our custody. Mia was 9 months old and only 14 pounds 2 ounces and 26 inches long. She was definitely mi pequeño bebe.
Day after day of calling to check if the doctor’s review was in turned up fruitless. “Call tomorrow” Kristina was told. She asked me if I would call. “The results will be in by next Tuesday.” Finally after 2 weeks, Maria called Kristina with the news.
“The report shows Mia to be about 5 months old,” she said quietly. Kristina almost lost her mind over the phone. If Mia were born on the first day we held her in November she would still be over 6 months old. Even so, in November she was at least 3 months, which means that she was now at least 9 months old. Kristina asked if the judge could please take the word of the police and consider that Mia had been malnourished slightly in the orphanage, which stunted her development. Maria told Kristina that the judge might release the paperwork when considering all that but that it would not happen today.
In fact it did not happen for another 10 days. This discrepancy caused the judge to decide to have a doctor in Guatemala City perform the test. Nothing seemed to get through about the police documents or the orphanage as the orders were sent by courier for Kristina to visit the hospital in Guatemala City. Kristina was livid, as it seemed yet another delay was going to keep her here indefinitely.
Sometimes writing about it in retrospect, the reader is unable to feel what it was like. Take a glimpse into the life of Kristina at this time as we read from her journal.
Well I have not written in awhile because I have been so angry about everything. Mia started feeling better on Sunday. It was nice to have the smiling happy baby back. I guess that was my first week of many to come of sleepless nights and high fevers. It wasn’t all that bad just very exhausting.
Last night I was feeding Mia her bottle before she went to bed and I was singing to her like I always do. When I stopped and tried to think of another song Mia looked at me and hummed a note so I sang again and stopped and she did the same thing. It is times like that when a mother feels so much joy. Very precious
Supposedly tomorrow is when I am to receive the order by courier to get the test for Mia. We will see!!
So the question is, what came of the 2nd doctor’s report? Wait and see…
Below
The order for Mia’s 2nd physical exam did not come the next day or even the day after that. In fact it was almost a week in arriving. Nothing feels more hollow and empty than waiting and doing nothing. When it finally did arrive, the order from the judge was for Mia to appear at a forensics clinic in Guatemala City. This was definitely a relief as the 4 hours to Quetzaltenango and 4 hours back was getting old.
Our friend Marcelo went with Kristina to the clinic to interpret for her. When they arrived, they were told to wait, which they did for quite a while. When they were finally called, the nurse told them that only one could go back with Mia. Though Marcelo explained that Kristina was the mother and he was there to interpret, it made no difference. Marcelo went back with Mia. Kristina was left to sit alone in the waiting room and wait.
Shortly after they left, Marcelo returned with a storm brewing on his face that indicated something was very wrong. Apparently the doctor was annoyed that the judge had sent them to his clinic. He refused to perform the test saying it should have been done in Quetzaltenango. Though Marcelo explained the faulty examination in Quetzaltenango it made no difference. The doctor was still refusing to do anything. The officials from the court told Marcelo to ask if it could be done at a private clinic. When he did, the doctor erupted in a tirade, as this apparently is an illegal practice. The nurse said the only option was for her to write an order for the test to be done at the National Hospital right there in Guatemala City. She wrote the order and sent them on their way.
Oh it goes further…
Upon arriving at the National Hospital in Guatemala City, Marcelo and Kristina had to wait quite a while before they were seen. When they were called, the physician looked at the order that was written and refused to do the test. When asked why, he said that he would need an order directly from the judge requiring the x-rays to be done at the National Hospital. Marcelo and Kristina left the hospital with Mia. They were frustrated and angry at the lack of cooperation on the part of anyone they had met today. They returned to the forensics clinic and explained that they were refused at the hospital. Literally, the doctor told them “tough luck.”
Think it ends there???
So we contact our lawyer after hearing nothing from the judge’s office. He decided to travel out to the court in Quetzaltenango to see what was happening. He called us later that day. The frustration in his voice couldn’t prepare us for the news that he was going to give. He said that the judge did not believe that the forensics clinic refused them and that the National Hospital wouldn’t see them either. Instead of calling to find out, she said that the only way she would proceed is with a notarized statement from the clinic and the hospital saying they refused to perform the test.
So here we were, I had left Guatemala on May 20th and it was now July 6th. To say Kristina was homesick was somewhat of an understatement. Would she be home any time soon? We were seriously beginning to doubt it.
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.
It is incredible, everything you all had to go through. The long wait and all the roadblocks must have been agonizing.
About the picture – Mia is one of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen!
You know looking back it truly was agonizing in so many ways. Being apart from my wife for 14 months was not easy. However, it was what we had to do to give Mia what she needed. It wasn’t about our best interest it was about hers. It is difficult to recount many of these events but it certainly helps that she’s at home with her Mommy right now playing with puzzles.