A not-so-unexpected delay
I had heard talk of back-ups at the US Embassy from other bloggers but now our agency reconfirmed that our DNA test could take a while. Apparently attorneys are having to wait “in line” for 2-3 weeks before they can get into the embassy to present the paperwork. The Embassy is handing out numbers every day but they hand out a hundred or more numbers daily and are only seeing 15-40 people per day and as a result are super backed up. Wonderful. Then they said once she has permission to do the DNA test it will take a week or two to schedule the lab appointment then it’s usually about 2 weeks for the results to come in.
So our best guess is that we won’t be able to visit until late March or even April. I'm frustrated over this not only because Cameron will be almost 5 months old by the time we can meet him but also the whole month of March looks to be dead at work then guess when things will pick up again? You guessed it, end of March, beginning of April. I guess life will go on if I miss a couple days of work (after all I'll be gone for several weeks once we finally bring our baby home) but it would have been nice to be gone during our slow time. But that's typical and why would I expect things to go differently? At least we have a target timeframe and can start to plan a little, then if things go more quickly it will just be a happy surprise! I do sincerely hope we get more updates and pictures before then however or I’m going to go crazy!
Other than that not much is happening in my world. I have this awful lingering head cold from hell that won’t die. I am so amazed at just how much snot my body can produce in a day! You would think I would dry out eventually but it just keeps replenishing! Oh well, it gives me yet another good excuse not to clean the house, I must rest so my cold will get better! Unfortunately nobody else is cleaning the house while I’m resting so I may have to break down and do a little housework. Darn the responsibilities! I know, just wait right? I have it easy now, I realize, but I’m milking this out as long as I can before mommydom sets in and I can never be sick again! I must enjoy the childless life while I can, it’s my only perk while in this horrible waiting stage!
posted by Kristin at 3:35 PM
7 Comments:
I hope you start feeling better soon, there seems to be enough snot to go around..sounds like lots of people have not been feeling too wonderful.
I am sorry to hear about the delay. Bummer...it will still be here before you know it though.
Yes, things are a bit delayed. NOT FUN, I know. It will happen though. Hold on to that you may need to remind yourself a bit later on in the process.
Poor nose. Drip, drip, drip.
sorry to hear about your cold..mine is just starting! GRR.
i will be praying that things miraculously speed up over there...a bit selfishly, too. we haven't even received a referral yet,and the back ups make me nervous! :)
loves!!
I just don't understand our embassy!!! UGH!!! I am sorry about your cold. I hope you feel better soon.
Kristin, I'm sorry about the w...a...i...t...i...n...g. It's horrible. But you will get through it, and you'll have a beautiful son! It's just a matter of time, and staying sane through the wait.
My agency said that they are working with the Embassy to try to improve things, the delays have to do with the number of adoption cases exploding, while the number of staff at the embassy stays the same. I hope they fix things soon and everybody's cases get moving.
Can your agency make an exception, in light of the circumstances, to let you visit before DNA? My agency lets you visit before DNA, and you just have to understand that there are risks involved, that the birthmother could fail to show up for DNA and you could lose your referral - but really - we would all be devastated if that happened, whether we visited them or not, right? Maybe they'll budge for you?
GOOD LUCK, I hope you get DNA done very soon.
Kristin! Good news! My agency just posted a message on our yahoo group:
"Today at the US Embassy in Guatemala City, a woman came out and made the following announcement:
That as of this morning, a new window, window #1, has opened that will only (1) receive Finales; and (2) hand out Consentimientos
(final pink files and preapproval pick ups) between 9 AM and 9:30 AM.; and
Window 8 will now only be taking in Iniciales (initial DNA files) AND they are promising that 40 people per day will be seen.
If this really happens, then we should see quite an improvement in Embassy waiting times."
SO! This hopefully means that your attorney will be able to get your boy's file in for DNA testing soon!
YEEHAAAAW! I hope you're posting really soon that you got DNA done! (and fyi - we saw the charge on our credit card I belive the day before the test was taken - and then results were mailed very quickly (within 1-2 weeks) to our house! The tests are processed out of North Carolina, I believe.)
Erica - Thanks so much for the info, that is great news! It's about time the US Embassy did something to help move things along more quickly, I hope this helps! Our agency did e-mail yesterday to say our attorney was going to try to present our DNA paperwork this week so hopefully she got in and we'll hear more soon!
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