IAAP Newsletter - Vietnam Update
June 27, 2008
URGENT REQUEST
 
We need everyone to join the petition drive to see that the Department of State negotiates in good faith with the Government of Vietnam to change the September 1, 2008 deadlines for referrals.  We would like to have 10,000 signatures by the end of next week!  currently there are about 5,700. 
 
Please CLICK HERE to read the petition and sign it!  Ask everyone you know to read and sign the petition! 
 
IT IS URGENT THAT YOU DO THIS TODAY!
 
(See more information in article below) 
 
 
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Please read to the end of the newsletter for some important information about Vietnam!
 
Siblings Need a Home
 
There are a brother and sister in Vietnam in need of a home. The sister was born in 1995 and the brother in 1997. Both of their parents have died. They have five other siblings but the financial strain is just too much for the older children to care for everyone.
 
We would need a family that already has a dossier in Vietnam to be able make a referral before the September 1 deadline. If a family cannot be found for them that already has a dossier in Vietnam then we would be willing to talk with anyone that is seriously interested in adopting these two children.
 
If you are interested please contact us at iaap@iaapadoption.com or call 423-886-6986. 
 
Girl
 
Boy
 
Baby Girl with Down Syndrome Needs a Family 
 
We are trying to find a family for a little one born with Down syndrome that is listed with WACAP. Any of our families who are already logged in with the DIA can have their dossier switched to WACAP. There would be no additional fees paid to IAAP, and all agency fees to WACAP have been covered by a generous donor. The contact information for WACAP is below, along with a description of this precious little girl. A photo can be sent to any interested, qualified families. Please do not copy this post to any other lists without permission! This baby girl only has a short time until she will lose what may well be her one chance to find a family of her own. The U.S. doesn't seem to be interested in pursuing the continuation of special needs adoptions past the September 1 cut-off date, even though the DIA (adoption authority in VN) has stated that they can continue. Let's help this little one find a family!
 
Baby girl, 1 year old with Down syndrome needs a family. She was abandoned. She enjoys food and is a good eater. She is a happy walker and when you hold her hands she is ready to explore her world. She can
sit upright by herself and enjoys watching everything in her surroundings. She is a very active and happy baby who is quite social and attached to her caregivers. She is from Vietnam and there is no adoption fee.

Dossier ready families and families able to submit their dossier by July 31st can be considered. Because of the adoption situation with Vietnam, perspective families need to know this situation poses risks
which may end in an unsuccessful adoption. WACAP will exhaust all possibilities to find this child a family, before Vietnamese adoptions are closed to U.S. citizens this summer. If you are dossier ready for an adoption in Vietnam or know someone who is, we look forward to speaking with you about this child's future.

WACAP (www.wacap.org) is a non-profit adoption agency (1-800-732-1887). There are no agency adoption fees as a generous donor has already paid them. There is also a no-interest loan available.
Contact Lynne at LynneM@wacap.org .
Current Info on Vietnam
 
As of today the deadline of July 1 for all dossiers to be received by the DIA in Hanoi still stands and also the deadline of September 1, 2008 for receiving a referral.  Vietnam has stated that all dossiers without a referral by September 1 will be sent back to the agencies.  The current estimate is that this could be as many as two thousand dossiers. 
 
Efforts are still underway to get the dossiers that are currently in Vietnam grandfathered in so that referrals may be received after September 1 when the MOA between the United States and Vietnam expires.  
 
The DIA has indicated that they would be willing to discuss changing the September 1 deadline if the US Department of State would request a change. So far the Department of State has been been unwilling to do this. The last statement from the Department of State was that they had contacted the Office of the Government in Vietnam and that they had said there was no change in the deadlines. The Department of State has not said whether they have or will directly contact Dr. Long, the Director of the Department of Intercountry Adoptions, who originally made the statement.
 
You can help encourage the Department of State to work with Vietnam to bring this about by contacting your Senators and Congressmen and asking them to contact the Department of State and ask what they are doing to try to assist the families with dossiers in Vietnam and have they contacted the DIA about extending the deadline.
 
Also go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Grandfather_All_Dossiers/ and sign the petition to ask the Department of State to work with the Vietnamese government to grandfather all dossiers currently in Vietnam.  You can sign it and have any friends, relatives, neighbors, etc. sign it, too. It currently has about 5,700 signatures but we need about twice that number.
 
You can do this even if you are not adopting from Vietnam.  We need everyone's help!  There are so many children there that need families.  We can't let them down.
 
Dick and Cheryl Graham