Happy Chinese New Year to everyone. This holiday is the most beloved and sacred of holidays to the Asian community. It is a time of family, which is such a wonderful thing to celebrate. Each day has a meaning, celebration and tradition and there is a certain 6 1/2 year old who is obsessed with each days tradition as it is the first thing that she asks in the morning followed closely by what is for lunch at school today and what are we doing at school today. Yes, she is a creature of habit and schedule. Each day must be methodically mapped out for her in detail. Traveling to China with her should be interesting!
The first day is a day of welcoming deities and honoring ancestors. Families reunite for this day. We called ours as everyone lives out of town. No meat is eaten as it is believed to ensure longevity. We had veggie lo mien noodles. I will have to let you know about the longevity part!
This is the Year of the Dragon, which is supposed to be a most fortunate time. Dragon years are good years. Indeed they are. This is the year we travel to China to meet Sofie and our family will be complete.
Ok, now on to the agency part. I feel like I am being held hostage. So go back to when we started our journey. From the first moment you pay your first large fee, they have you. To change agencies would cost a lot of money. The farther along in the process you are, the more it will cost you. None of the fees are refundable if you are unhappy about anything....no return policy!!!! We are at the point now where we have no choice, they have the only access to our daughter. I can complain all I want, they still have the only access and the only route to my daughter. This process stinks!!!!!!!!
I have posted previously about the request for an update and how we were brushed off until I finally gave up and sent my own care package. Last week, at my request, I finally received some paperwork, not the paperwork I requested, but paperwork that needed to be filled out in order for us to proceed with the next step. It was some agency legal documents and a vaccination affidavit for US Immigration that needed to be filled out and notarized. The next day I arranged for Jim to get Ainsley off the bus so I could run around and get this stuff done after work and hand deliver it to the agency. I then sent an email the next day, Friday, to let them know that I dropped it off. Nothing.....no response. The next Wed evening I sent another email just to make sure that they received the paperwork. I finally heard back on Friday with a snarky email about here is the next set of paperwork and by the way, we sent a representative to Sofie's orphanage but they informed us that someone had already been there delivering a care package so they would not be giving out any further information at this time. The exact words she used was that someone was there asking lots of questions and that the orphanage was "miffed." I don't blame the orphanage. If there had been any type of communication on the part of our agency regarding the update I probably would not have sent the care package. I got nothing from them! I first asked for the update at the request of the international adoption Doctor way back at the end of November and they are finally getting around to it! I have also heard via the grapevine about paperwork mistakes that have resulted in delays in other adoptions. I will be keeping track and I will be emailing them a lot!! What do you do though? We need them to get to Sofie. I just would like to know at what point does it happen that they stop advocating for the family and the child and just start looking out for themselves. I feel like we are being held hostage. I have decided to swallow my pride and take one for the team! I don't like how they handle things but they will hear about it when I am home from China. No family that has to navigate the roller coaster ride of adoption should ever have to deal with some of the things that I have heard about. Our agency actually isn't that bad, yet. There are far worse ones out there........only time will tell :)
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