Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Congo Adoptions Closed?

Earlier this week on the blog Alama ya Kitumaini, I learned that the US Embassy put out another memo on Congo adoptions.  And it's a doozy.  Click here to read.

Basically, it means that the Congolese government isn't giving out exit visas.  You cannot bring your child home without an exit visa.  In essence, it is temporarily (according to the memo, up to 12 months) shutting down adoptions.  They have given no wording of what it means for families with referrals, or families currently in Congo trying to leave with their children.

Truthfully, I am not surprised at this.  Only surprised that it took this long for something to happen.  I am, however, surprised that the Congolese shut it down first.  My thoughts after watching the program through the last two years is that the US would have seen all the crap going on both by the Congolese side, as well as with US adoption agencies, and pulled the plug themselves.

It's a sad situation.  And I have no idea what it means for the future of Congolese adoptions.  Holly wrote a great article on some thoughts about what has happened and the why.  She has an excellent view on Congo adoptions in general given the fact that she and her family lived in Congo for 4 1/2 years.  I recommend you pop over to read her article about the exit visas stopping.

And in the mean time, if you are interested in Congo adoptions, I would sit tight.  I would not sign on with an agency who pooh-poohs this as something small or says that they can get you most of the way and then wait on the exit visas becoming available again.  Maybe they will, maybe they won't.  But in my mind, an agency is not ethical if they are continuing their program in light of such a strong statement as the most recently released memo from the US Embassy in Kinshasa.

7 comments:

  1. We felt the landscape of Congolese adoptions changing quickly when we were in country this past fall and I, too, fear a complete shutdown is imminent. I have PAPs asking me about Congolese adoptions frequently, and I can't bring myself to recommend adopting out of DRC right now. Something's gotta give... My heart does break for the families in process though. It's heartbreaking.

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  2. They have given word that adoptions will process as normal, and multiple entities--including one ministry (government office) within the country--are working along with ethical adoption agencies to prove innocence and convince DGM (the office that issues exit letters after visas have already been given) to allow families who have already received visas or are waiting on them to come home with their children. DGM has no authority over adoptions, per se, just the leaving part. We have received a referral for TWINS (boy and girl) from Congo, so we have been following this closely. We would love your prayers and support to get through this process. honeybunchesoflotz.blogspot.com

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    1. I will definitely be praying for your adoption to proceed so you can bring your twins home. I truly, truly want Congolese orphans to have families.

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    2. Gotta love Jenny the baby buyer! Who swears Jesus told her a cute lil black baby she will likely rehome when she gets bored of!

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  3. If all things are going to proceed as normally, then I am quite surprised at such a strong statement from the Congolese government. While DGM doesn't technically have any authority over adoptions, they do have authority on whether that child leaves the country, which in my mind gives them the ultimate authority over adoptions. You can have legally adopted the child through the Congolese courts, been issued a US visa and still be denied by DGM. And there is nothing we can do about it. The US doesn't have any jurisdiction over kids who are legally adopted by Americans but denied an exit visa. Unfortunately, we have seen and experienced so much corruption in Congo adoptions, I fear that the program really is headed for a demise. We know of people who have been asked to pay more than $300 per month for the care of their child until they come home. That is more than the average Congolese makes in a year. If this money is truly making it to our children, then they should come home in great health, nice and plump, with much fewer issues like lice and scabies, because technically, we are paying big bucks for their medical care. We have seen on forums PAPs being asked to pay near $1000 for care for the mother of the child they are adopting until the child is ready to come home. It's insane. We paid $150 for each of our children per month for their food and medical care, and our kids came home tiny. Our daughter was 13 pounds at one year with a severe case of lice and scabies. The orphanage did not have one single toy in it, although multiples were sent with families before us. Our daughter was sick and missing for 5 weeks and our agency never even told us about it. We only found out from someone who traveled and knew about it. We were just told that it was taking longer for us to get through court.

    I really do hope that those in process like you with your twins (it's so much work, but so much fun!) make it through and that there won't be any delays, but I could not under good conscience recommend the program to anyone right now not already in it. I do not want Congo adoptions to shut down because there are so many children in need of families, but there are some serious issues going on in with both Congo and US adoption agencies, and I just cannot believe some of the things that both sides are getting away with. We know for a fact that families of children have been split to make them more eligible for adoption. It's enough to make me want to cry my eyes out

    We have serious doubts about the validity of the story we were told for both. of our kids for various reasons, and while we are trusting God that they ended up with us, I have a fair amount of questions and feelings about it that are quite complicated and that I would not wish others to feel.

    At the time we adopted, there was only 4 US agencies doing adoptions, and that number has skyrocketed in the last two years, along with the stories of corruption and outright lies. I am still pro-adoption but I feel very different about it this side of it after seeing both the things that we went through and talking with others who went through it with us and after.

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    1. Please email me ylblair@gmail.com
      We have almost the same story on our adoption from DRC I'd love to talk!

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