Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Waiting...

...and waiting....and waiting. You think we would get used to this waiting thing. :)

Waiting for the results from the trip to Taiwan....waiting for a referral....waiting for our file to be transferred from Commonwealth to Gladney....waiting for a loan confirmation to allow me to register for school...

On a side note, Jeffrey's first day of school was yesterday; 2nd grade! Our baby is no longer a baby! He has been talking a lot about his new brother/sister during the past few days. He has been excited about the adoption since we first started talking about it almost 2 years ago. Has it been that long already??

Hopefully we will have an actual update soon!

Shane and Misty

Monday, August 25, 2008

Mailed release forms

Surprisingly we received the information release forms from Commonwealth after the conference call with Gladney. We mailed those this morning. Now we just wait for Gladney's return from Taiwan. They should be back by August 31st and after that we will find out more.

Shane and Misty

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Looks promising

The conference call with Gladney was an overdue dose of assurance for us. The upper level group from Gladney is leaving for their trip to Taiwan tomorrow to visit with the orphanages and to work out the details of their nearly developed Taiwan program. Gladney's initial plan was to make the trip to Taiwan first and then have the conference call with us but had a change of heart and decided to communicate with us their plans and to fill us in on the transition details. They did not want us to worry another day about what is happening with our adoption...which we are very appreciative of.

The Senior VP of Gladney himself announced that we will not have to pay another dime to continue our adoption through them! Nada! Not through email...not through a letter....we actually heard it from his mouth. Which is way more than I can say about Commonwealth. We were lucky to get an email from them. It will cost Gladney an estimated $100,000 to cover the expenses that Commonwealth was supposed to pay to the orphanages. Gladney sees this as an investment opportunity and with their track record I'm sure it will pay off. And another bonus is that they have been in business for 120 years, starting with domestic adoptions only for the first 100 years and have since added international programs. We are so relieved to receive this news.

Their trip to Taiwan is to work out the operational details with them and to close the deal on their adoption partnership with the orphanages. While they are in Taiwan we (the clients) have to fill out an information release form for Commonwealth in order for Commonwealth to release our files to Gladney. Gladney is not allowed to contact us until they have our files in their hand. Until then it is our responsibility to contact Gladney if we have any questions or concerns. They are expected to return from Taiwan on August 31st and will have a follow up conference call to answer the operational questions. Hopefully they will have our file by then. If they do we will then be assigned a case worker. Oh and another thing we learned about Commonwealth today. Their case workers were contract workers...Gladney's are actual employees of Gladney. That would explain why we had 3 different case workers within a 1 1/2 year time frame.

We are very thankful of the outcome so far. This has been a huge learning experience for us... we have learned so much about how the international adoption process works as well as trusting God when the road to get where we need to be is not what we envisioned. Thank you so much for your thoughts, prayers and support. More to come!

God bless,
Shane and Misty

P.S. I have added the link to Gladney in the Personal Link section if you want to check out their website.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Conference Call with Gladney

We got an email today from Commonwealth stating that we are having the conference call this Thursday, August 21st at 4:00 pm with Gladney. This is our opportunity to ask any questions we have about the transition to Gladney. We were instructed to email the topics we would like to discuss. Of course I'm sure the #1 topic regards the money aspect of it...additional fees, whether they will cover the foreign fee we have already paid, etc. I assume the Taiwan program is a go. I guess we will find out on Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes!

Misty

Monday, August 18, 2008

Still waiting

Sorry we don't have anything new to report. We have decided to see what options Gladney gives us and go from there. We're just praying they will be able to cover the foreign fees that we have already paid; although, I am expecting them to charge us agency/processing fees which could end up to be a few thousand dollars.

Please keep us in your prayers!

Shane and Misty

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Something else to focus on...

I think I posted a few months ago about going back to school. I took a class at a local community college during the summer to get into the medical field. At the time I was debating between Medical Coding or Medical Transcription and signed up for the medical terminology class which is needed for both programs. BTW - I made a B in the class! I am thrilled none the less because it was a tough course. Anyway, I have chosen Medical Transcription.
"Assistance with job placement is included. In fact, you receive 1 full year of follow-up and assistance with resumes, job leads, etc."
Not a bad deal if you ask me. I will also get to work from home and the pay is not bad.
We'll see....I'll give updates when I sign up for the program. This will keep me busy for a year. :)

Misty

Monday, August 11, 2008

Trying to find good in bad news

Although this has been a horrific experience with Commonwealth I will again reiterate that I have met some awesome people while traveling along this winding road. God is great! :)

With that being said I found out through a yahoo group that Cathwel (the orphanage we are working with in Taiwan) requires a $10,000 fee to be paid to them when a referral is accepted. *For those of you who don't know (or forgot) what a referral is, it is basically when the birth mother chooses your family as the adoptive parents of her child. You have a choice on whether or not to accept that referral.*
Well, we paid 1/2 of that fee ($5000) to Commonwealth and assumed that the fee was being paid to Cathwel. Surprise! Apparently it wasn't. I guess Commonwealth was 'holding' the money for us. Oh yes, and now the money is gone and they are unable to refund it. BUT on the bright side of the situation, Gladney is supposedly going to cover that fee for us. We're praying they will!
So now we wait (some more) for Gladney to make the trip to Taiwan. What's another 3 or 4 weeks compared to 7 months, right? :)

To be continued!

Blessings,
Shane and Misty

Friday, August 8, 2008

Thanks everyone

We just want to take time to show appreciation for every one's support and encouragement during this rough spot in the adoption.
I have kept myself busy with researching domestic adoptions and fostering...and I have also met some really awesome people who have inspired me to keep fighting for what I believe God wants us to do. Some of them have been down this road before and have offered great advice. I admire their courage and faithfulness.
Of course we have not made a final decision as to what we will do. I guess it all depends on the director of Gladney and their trip to Taiwan. It is all in God's hands...

Blessings,
Shane and Misty

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Gladney Center of Tx

We finally heard from Commonwealth...through email of course....still no phone call. Here is the email:

"We thank you for being patient in receiving further information. We are working out a “provisional” arrangement with another agency, The Gladney Center in Texas, to take over our Taiwan program. It is our hope that Gladney would assume the responsibility for completing the adoptions of our families in every phase of their Taiwan adoption process. If we successfully transfer this program, we do not anticipate that you would pay additional fees beyond what your contract fees are with Commonwealth. You would pay your remaining contract fees (if there are any) to the new agency when the arrangement is finalized. You may have some home study fees, training or other updating expenses which may be necessary to comply with the new COA/DOS regulations and Hague requirements. Gladney will also be required to assess each case to assure the file is fully compliant with their licensing, accrediting and policy standards."

"This arrangement is contingent upon the three entities in Taiwan (Cathwel, TWCA and Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation) *we are working with Cathwel* agreeing to continue the relationships we had with them with the new agency. Gladney’s Vice President of International Adoption, along with our Program Director, Ray Mak, will be traveling to Taiwan to meet with all three orphanages’ directors to discuss this transition. That trip is scheduled for the week of August 20th, 2008 (firm dates have not been set but that is the target week). The trip will likely last 7-10 days. If successful, then you will have a seamless transition to the new agency and your process will continue forward. The arrangement, however, cannot be finalized until after the trip to Taiwan."

"We have no reason to believe the orphanages/agencies in Taiwan will not be willing to work with the new agency. There have already been preliminary discussions to this end, and initial responses are positive. Gladney is very reputable and has been in the process of adoptions for over 100 years. They are solid, have great integrity and are a highly ethical and philanthropic organization."



"This is the absolute best situation you could be in, and we are very grateful that this agency has agreed to help – the only downside is having to wait until the end of the month for the arrangement to be solidified. Switching to another agency other than this one is not really an option for Taiwan program families, as Commonwealth no longer has the financial resources to refund the fees that you paid."



"Once the final arrangements are in place, we will notify you and swiftly transfer your file after you sign a consent to transfer. You will be introduced to your new case manager at that time as well. We plan to have a conference call with all our Taiwan families the first week of September in order to fully inform you of the plan and the general status of the adoptions from Taiwan. Please do not attempt to contact Gladney for additional information, as their staff will not have the information you may want. We understand the worry and concern you are feeling, and we are committed to assuring that your adoptions are not delayed. We are also committed to full and complete information-sharing and to being totally transparent. Therefore, we will not participate in sharing rumors or speculation. We will only share information we have confirmed, and we will keep you fully informed. As of this moment, Gladney is committed to helping us help our families, to the success of Taiwanese adoption, and to helping the many children currently in care in Taiwan."

"We ask you to be patient for the next 3 to 4 weeks until these meetings transpire and then we will update you immediately when things are confirmed. In the meantime, please continue to work on your dossier if your case is in that stage. If your dossiers are with the Courts in Taiwan, the court process is continuing without any disruption."

"Finally, let me just say that we are utterly committed to ensuring your adoption is not disrupted and is completed. That has been and remains to be the UTMOST priority for us at Commonwealth".....BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. (Had to add that...it's been very frustrating)

So now our options are:
1. Wait to see how the trip to Taiwan goes and participate in the conference call
2. Participate in the class action lawsuit (hopefully one is still in the works)
3. Cut our losses and go with domestic adoption (privately or with the State)

Advice anyone?

Other Commonweatlh families and their struggles...

http://www.adoptionagencyratings.com/

This started out as an agency rating website but has recently turned to support group/rally.
Click on Commonwealth Adoptions International Inc.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

New information

Okay, it seems that Commonwealth was denied for the US Hague accreditation and that Taiwan is a NON-Hague country.
http://adoption.about.com/od/international/f/whathague.htm

So Taiwan had nothing to do with Commonwealth closing their doors. If we choose to stick with international adoption the key is to make sure the agency has been approved for the US Hague accreditation...just to be safe. Apparently this law came into effect April, 2008.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Where do we go from here?

I am speechless right now so I am going to copy the email we received from Commonwealth:

"With a deep sadness and concern, we are writing to tell you that Commonwealth Adoptions International Inc. has made a very difficult decision to cease providing adoption services. The Board of Directors met Thursday, July 31st to review the status of the company and all options. The Board concluded that it was necessary to seize operation and begin to transition families to other adoption providers. That said, please know that we will do everything possible to transition your adoption into another adoption agency. We have informed our licensing authorities and believe that we will have guidance, support and cooperation from them. We are still a licensed agency, have not closed our doors and will do our very best to assist all families in their process to the best of our ability."

"In order to insure uninterrupted adoptions we are talking with several other tax-exempt adoption agencies so they may take over certain programs and see these adoptions to completions. We will communicate with each family individually regarding your specific adoption, including the agency we are recommending to work with."

"Difficult economic times and the failure of obtaining Hague certification (which we very strongly believe was unjustified) was devastating to CAII and its programs. This denial immediately affected almost one third of our families and several programs. Established programs have longer waiting times from matching to placement or travel, which is prohibitive to most adoptive parents and costly. Other programs have simply closed down. A few promising new programs are small and cannot yet reliably serve the number of families willing to risk starting over again, as our contract spelled out, we have no control over the foreign agencies and how they handle their adoption programs. International adoptions in general have recently been subject to dramatic changes."

"Our situation is not unique. In the past few months we became aware of other agencies that had closed their doors and there are many, if not all, experiencing difficulties to some degree where they have to lay off staff and generally downsize their operations. Please know that we will do all we can to stand by you and work with you so not to disrupt your adoption process or at least minimize the disruption."

"This is very disappointing to us since we felt that we successfully addressed the economic situation. However, the denial of Hague certification a month ago and failure for us to complete an affiliation with another tax-exempt organizations that we have been in discussion with for some time brought us to a place where we have to begin to transition families to other agencies."

"Please be gentle with us. Know that we will do whatever we can to make this process as painless as possible for you. There is going to be a subsequent letter sent to you regarding your specific program arrangement."

At this point we don't see any reason to continue with an international adoption. We are so confused right now. We were also informed: "With the arrangement we are working out you will not be losing any of your monies - you will pick up where you left off with us. Please be patient - we will be sending information out to you about this in the next few days." I don't know...right now our thoughts are that if Commonwealth is not able to come through for us on an international adoption, what makes us think another agency can?

Right now we are waiting to see what our options are...we'll keep you posted.