Adoption Update

What I now know......

It has been confirmed that the JCICS will be hosting a 9-member delegation from Vietnam from March 24th through April 2nd. The delegation, led by Vice-Minister of Justice Dinh Trung Tung, will attend the JCICS conference and Institutes, meet with adoptive families and participate in a planned series of meetings with leaders in the U.S. child welfare and government agencies. With a goal of advancing the relationship and understanding between the peoples and governments of the US and Vietnam, this visit will include an exchange of information on the Hague Convention and child protections along with discussions on key elements of and opportunities for an interim agreement.

The delegation will arrive in the US on March 23rd and spend a few days in San Francisco before going to Indianapolis, IN for the conference. After the conference, they will fly to Washington DC on March 30th and spend several days there before returning to Vietnam. The goal of JCICS is to provide a social forum where adoptive families can offer their important perspectives, discuss the challenges unique to adoptive families and demonstrate the positive impact of inter-country adoption. The details and schedule of the social forums have not been fully developed but they will occur in Indianapolis IN and Washington DC.

This is a very positive step towards a new agreement being reached however; we still can't get our hopes up that the delegation will return to Vietnam and sign an agreement with the US. Yet, this is a very important step towards that goal.

There is a hope that VN & the US will open up adoptions for special needs children, but I'm not counting on it since there needs to be a clear statement from VN on what special needs will be allowed and the US must approve it. The last time VN closed special needs adoptions were allowed however; as soon as the new agreement was signed each side halted all adoptions until all the US agencies were licensed and VN officially re-opened. So, that could happen again given that VN will be voting on adoption laws May 2009, September 2009 and then again March 2010. More than likely nothing will be settled until the 2010 meeting and then it'll be 6+ months beyond that before things get rolling again, but if they allow special needs in the interim there is always the chance that the laws will be approved before 2010 and then adoptions would be stopped again.

Anyway, it's all still up in the air and a big 'ol crap shoot, but a least there is a glimmer of light at then end of this very long tunnel. I'm hoping that it doesn't get extinguished before it has a chance to really shine through.

......That's what I know.