Still Waiting

Like many other PAPs (prospective adoptive parents), I am still waiting for the Consulate in NY to reopen. As you may have read in my post a few days ago, the second phase of the review process has commenced and Kazakh officials are now planning a meeting with partners in Kazakhstan who work with the agencies which have been cleared in the U.S. That meeting will be to be sure that everyone is aware of the adoptive process. I assume this means they will really be cracking down on the partners over there and making sure that no one is bending the rules. This will mean, making sure no one is only being shown a specific gender of child due to a preference; that no one is travelling with a referral, etc. This is all fine and the way the law has always been. I guess some agencies were given an inch of flexibility and took a mile, so they are forced to crack down. You know what they say, "one bad apple..."

I am astonished that the Kazakh officials have been so diligent in keeping this process moving. While every day of this wait feels like an eternity, I have to say, after all of the time I spent in Russia & Ukraine and experienced their endless delays, Kazakhstan has proven to be very different and efficient. It's actually quite unheard of that they managed to look through almost 40 agencies applications and come up with a list of 32 that would move onto the next round of approved agencies in only two weeks. Hopefully, this phase will move just as quickly and my dossier will be reviewed soon at the Consulate.

In the meantime, for my biggest fans, and you know who you are (Wendy and DMB), here's a great link I just found which gives some good Kazakhstan 101 information. http://www.kazakhcrafts.com/

Hang tight. I'm sure we'll have some movement soon and will be able to check off the next step on our process "To Do List". Go team!