Adopted Toddlers Can't Travel To Their New Moms & Pops! Help!!!!

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Thank you SO much. We are so heartbroken with all this waiting, waiting, waiting. The nursery has been decorated, furnished and ready for over two years now. My daughter flew to Nepal three weeks ago, signed the official adoption papers while there, and hugged, loved and bonded with this adorable little girl for ten days. And then had to fly home to the States without her. Devastating.
Please do urge everyone you know to sign the petition. We need at least ten thousand signers. So far, we have 4892 signers. We need to post the link to the petition EVERYWHERE.
Much appreciated,
-Carolyn

At this point we now have 6,332 signatures on our online petition to allow these 80 toddlers to come to the US with the American families that adopted them in Nepal.

Please sign the petition so that we can impact all of our Senators and Congressional Representatives.

We need at least 10,000 signatures to make a big enough noise so Capital Hill will hear us.

Here's the link to the petition. Please sign.

And then PLEASE forward the link to every email address on your contact lists.

Let's get these little kids home!!! (Including my little new grandchild.)

Please read my original posting that started this thread. And send it to everyone you know. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
http://www.petition2congress.com/2/3608/view_all/63/

We have been blessed to adopt three little ones domestically and have held the hands of several dear friends throughout the international adoption roller coaster ride. Our prayers are with all the families and children involved. DH and I signed your petition.

I have absolutely nothing against foreign adoptions; indeed, one of my nephews was adopted as a young child from a foreign country. However, I do not believe that our government acts thoughlessly or carelessly in implementing policy. The stated reason in the OP's letter for the current policy denying entry to children adopted from Nepal is the concern that child trafficking is involved.

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Sorry, I veheminantly disagree that it is un-American to, as a policy, disallow child trafficking. I would be extremely angry to discover that we, as a nation, had turned a blind eye to allegations of child trafficking. Not all governments are altruistic, and third world governments are particularly prone to corruption. The article Carolyn linked to basically says, "we don't think there is any child trafficking or stolen children involved, but even if there are, it is better to let Americans adopt them than to refuse to deal with exploiters of children." Better to allow children who may have been stolen from their homes and parents to be sent thousands of miles away, rewarding those who stole the children in the first place?! Once here it would be extremely difficult for them to be returned to Nepal against their American parents' wishes.

I do feel for the plight of the Americans wanting to adopt children, but they cannot have not known beforehand that there are miles of red tape and often multiple policy changes involving both countries to deal with.

For a moment, imagine yourself as the parent on the OTHER SIDE: your child was stolen and is likely to be taken to a far away country, where you will never be able to see him or her again; for the remainder of your life, you will not know whether she lives or died, whether her life is a good one or tortured. How would you feel about it then?

Good point.... EXCEPT: The American adoption agencies work very hard in Nepal to find orphanages with unquestionable reputations and earnest caretaking histories. Everyone of these 80 children are in orphanages that received these kids when they were tiny babies. The orphanages have all the original documents created at the time of the infant's arrival at the orphanage, including the photo they took of the infant's face, so the child can clearly be identified; the signed declaration of the police officer who received the infant from the passerby who found the infant; the signed declaration of the police officer who brought the infant to the orphanage; the entire staff of the orphanage is ready to attest by affidavit that the child has been living in that orphanage since infancy; the original newspaper ads complete with the baby's photograph; each orphanage also has originals of each ad published in the major newspapers in Nepal -- repeatedly on three separate dates for each kid--, announcing that this child was found and requesting any of the natural parents to come get their lost and missing child; they also have all the original documents/letters of registration/medical exam reports, etc., between the orphanages and the Nepali government whereby the children were registered with the Nepali social welfare departments of the country. NOT ONE of these orphans has received any visitors, any donations of food or money or clothes from any Nepali person throughout the years that they've lived in the orphanages. The specific aspect of the bureaucracy nightmare that is so "very un-American" is to be declared guilty without proof. The US Department of State has arbitrarily decided to declare these kids as unadoptable without ANY proof, without ANY reason. There is NOTHING different about these 80 kids than the several hundreds of Nepali orphans that were granted visas before the US's August 6th declaration that Nepali orphans are not really abandoned and deserted. The American ethic of innocent until proven guilty has been thoughtlessly and carelessly tossed aside. The Department of State does NOT have one single shred of evidence that any of these 80 children were stolen, or sold, or trafficked in any way. Every single one of these 80 prospective adoptive parents has declared that if natural, biological parents existed, they would give the children back without hesitation. The Nepali government has investigated each case and has declared these 80 kids as orphaned, abandoned, or deserted and therefor as available for international adoption. IT IS ILLEGAL TO GIVE BIRTH OUT OF WEDLOCK IN NEPAL. No one is going to show up to claim these babies except these 80 American families. And yes, I do believe that the August 6th policy shift was thoughtless and careless.

So, please, sign the petition and let these kids find a loving home.

Just signed

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IN ANSWER TO YOUR EXCELLENT QUESTION: "...why the devil did they do it?" :

Effective August 6, 2010, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced the suspension of new adoption cases for children identified as
abandoned in Nepal. This was due to pressure from UNICEF and Terre de Homme (well documented anti-adoption stance; see
http://www.google.com/search?q=anti...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a)

DOS announced at the same time that that they would continue processing approximately 80 adoptions for those children who have already been referred to an American citizen prior to August 6, 2010.

On August 6, 2010, without warning to any of the parents or agencies currently finalizing their cases, the DOS issued a statement, “strongly recommending that prospective adoptive parents do not travel
to Nepal to finalize their adoptions.” Knowing that the government of Nepal only allowed 60 days to complete adoptions. Instead, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the
Department of State report that they are “currently setting up a [new] program that will enable the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu to complete the required I-604 Determination of Child for Adoption before prospective parents travel to Nepal to finalize the adoptions.”

This new vigorous investigative program is just for the 80 families that are in possession of referrals issued before August 6th, 2010. USCIS and DOS report that “… the review of these approximately 80
adoptions will be vigorous and it is expected that some might not be ultimately approved.” Holding these 80 cases to a higher standard of investigation than the previously approved cases seems arbitrary at best and cruel at worst.

Until August 6th a visa could be granted if there was no proof of corruption but as of August 6, 2010 – just for the 80 families with referrals -- proof must be provided that the documents are legitimate,
proof that is extremely difficult to come by given the Nepali culture and customs. It is unconscionable that these children may have to remain in orphanages for the rest of their childhood because the DOS
is now reviewing each abandonment case on a “guilty until proven innocent” view instead of an “innocent until proven guilty” standard.

These children who have been abandoned for years – there is ample evidence that they have been living in orphanages for years but are not going to be given a visa to the US to live with their forever
family that will provide a safe, loving and nurturing home because their original abandonment cannot be substantially verified. Children are abandoned because these mothers/family members/relatives by
necessity go great lengths not to be identified due to the Nepalese culture, norms and rules. The government of Nepal has determined that they are legally free to be adopted.

The Nepalese culture makes it very difficult to investigate these cases according to Western standards. Many abandoned children were born out of wedlock, a situation that is illegal in Nepali society.
Women who have given birth out of wedlock are considered unmarriageable. Therefore most women and girls have no choice but to keep their pregnancies a secret. These women and their relatives will
do anything to remain anonymous rather than be shunned by their community and left husbandless in a patriarchal society. This makes the orphan investigation process nearly impossible.

The Embassy has stated that one of the reasons for questioning the orphans' files is that they are all so similar. However, the files are similar because the situations are very similar in the case of abandonment. A child is found by someone and then taken to either a police station or orphanage. This is the only information available because the mother has chosen to remain anonymous and others do not wish to report anything they know about the situation.

There is significant political pressure to go along with the UNICEF report even though the data presented in it is out of date and was collected before the re-opening of adoption in Nepal. These 80 kids
got stuck in the middle. If they are not allowed to join their families they will spend their lives in orphanages until they are 14 and then in garbage picking or the sex trade (there are few - though
some, other options).

If a bad situation is unknown, one cannot be expected to do anything (previous adoptions), but once there are concerns and doubts, one takes steps (put things on hold pending investigation). Seems a pretty reasonable step, especially considering the seriousness of the concerns. Quite frankly, I would almost expect them to also investigate previous adoptions that had been completed if the on-going investigations prove that any are indeed stolen children.