Status Update

I received Gabreialla and her birth mother's DNA Match and the Social Worker report of the interview with Gabriella's birth mother has been complete. I knew that I had to receive "Preapproval" from the US Embassy in order to be submitted to PGN (Procuraduría General de la Nación), Guatemala's Attorney General's office. Preapprovals had been taking on average only about 2 weeks. The US Embassy in Guatemala received the DNA results on February 8th, so I was expecting to have received Preapproval and to be submitted to PGN by now. After calls and e-mails to the US Embassy in Guatemala I found out that they have extended the review period to allow up to SIXTY days for review.

I received this from the US Embassy in Guatemala, "Due to recent events that have caused the State Department to recommend against adopting in Guatemala, it has become necessary to scrutinize more thoroughly each case. This additional scrutiny has caused us to extend our self-imposed suspense goals. The goal for adjudicating the pre-approval for complete and accurate cases has been extended from 30 days to 60 days from date of receipt of DNA results..."

They claim that there are hundreds of files in front of mine and I will receive Preapproval by April 7th. Evan, the other baby living with Gabriella in her foster home, has been waiting 50 days now for his Preapproval. This is EXTREMELY bad news and VERY FRUSTRATING.

Please say a prayer for a faster turn-around of our file and a quick homecoming for Garbriella and all of the other babies in Guatemala waiting to unite with their families.