Home (for now)

Yesterday was our last day in Guyana. While the morning got off to a late start with Aria and me catching up on our zzz's, things got exciting when we received a voicemail from the US Embassy here in Guyana wanting to check in about our case. Shane didn't answer the phone when it rang (we assumed it was a telemarketer) so he had to call back. The Embassy wanted to find out where we were in the adoption process and asked several questions. Unfortunately, we are still months away from finalizing the adoption as things move at a snail's speed here, even when they are attempting to expedite the process.

After the call, we got busy packing up all our belongings so that we could check-out of our room before Aria's neurology appointment at 1:00 pm. While packing, we received a call from Ms. Jardine at the Child Protection Agency. She had spoken with the passport office and they agreed to allow us to apply for Aria's passport which we'd then be able to pick up after we received guardianship. Ms. Jardine wrote a letter for us to take to the passport office giving us permission to submit the application. Ms. Alli from the Foster Care Department was going to meet us for Aria's neuro appointment and bring us the letter so that we could go to the passport office right after the doctor's.

Back to packing I went when I noticed an email pop up in my inbox from the Office of Children's Issues at the Department of State. They wanted to schedule a conference call with us to discuss our case at 4:00 pm. Knowing we'd be out at appointments all afternoon, we pushed the call back to 4:30 pm, checked out of our room, and headed first to pick up Aria's passport photos and then on to Mercy Hospital for her neuro follow-up.

When we arrived to Dr. Dukhi's office, the hall was already lined with people waiting to see him. We didn't realize that everyone gets a "1:00 appointment" and that patients are seen in the order they arrive. Thankfully they make exceptions for children and we were the second ones seen. Dr. Dukhi took a look at Aria's incisions and said she is healing well. She will be getting her stitches out on Saturday and has a follow-up appointment with him on June 26.

Our "1:00 appointment" ended up taking much longer than anticipated and then Shane had to navigate the billing system at Mercy Hospital to ensure we had paid the appropriate amount for Aria's hospital stay since they bill initially based on an estimate. He finally wrapped that up and we sped off for the passport office.

When we arrived, they asked if we had the passport application and copies of both her birth certificate and the letter from the Child Protection Agency (CPA). No, we did not have any of those items. We were only told we needed passport photos and her original birth certificate. Outside the passport office, there were vendors selling copies of the passport application. After purchasing it, we were then told we needed a "Justice of the Peace" to vouch for us. Hmmm...what? In Guyana, a "Justice of the Peace" is similar to a notary. Shane jumped in the car with Quincy and raced off to find a Justice of the Peace and to make copies of our documents. We were in a huge time crunch as the passport office closes at 3:00 pm and it was indeed 3:00 pm. Since we were already inside the building, they agreed to wait and still process our application once Shane returned.

Finally Shane arrived with what we thought were all the documents we needed. After going to the back with an officer to submit our application for Aria's passport, he reappeared asking Jocelyn, Aria's foster mom, to accompany him. In the end, we were not able to submit her passport application after all. Instead, the CPA would need to reissue a letter giving Jocelyn permission to submit the application since Aria is currently in Jocelyn's care.

Our next stop was the CPA to check in with them before we left the country. We were assured by the CPA that they would assist Jocelyn in obtaining Aria's passport on our behalf so that it can be issued in our absence. 

We have a court date set for June 21st to apply for legal guardianship in Guyana. We were told by our attorney that we will not need to be present for the court date. Instead, she will apply on our behalf.  If we do get granted guardianship AND if the CPA is able to get Aria a passport, we will be able to apply online for a US Visa appointment at the Embassy in Guyana. We will then be able to return to Guyana for only the Visa appointment versus having to fly down multiple times to take care of each step.

We left the CPA with Jocelyn and drove to her home. She wanted to show us where Aria had been living. On the way, the Office of Children's Issues called us for the third time. It was well past 4:30 and they had been trying to reach us. Shane answered this time while I listened on speaker phone. They wanted to touch base about our current adoption case. From what they explained to us, they were waiting for guidance from Guyana as to how Guyana will choose to proceed with transition cases. Since the CPA in Guyana is moving forward with the adoption process, we asked what will happen on the U.S. side if Guyana allows us to adopt Aria. Their response was that if Guyana finalizes our adoption, then that would be the USCIS's answer as to how Guyana is choosing to proceed with transition cases and that the US Embassy would process our case and give Aria US citizenship. This was the news we have been praying to hear!  Basically they will allow our adoption to process just as it would have prior to the closure.

On a negative note, they stated that it will be extremely difficult to get Aria home early on a temporary non-immigrant visa for medical purposes. The biggest hurdle we have to overcome is to prove that Aria has strong ties to her home country to ensure she will return once her visa stay is over.  Because Aria does not have these ties and is in an adoption process, they said it is unlikely that we will get the temporary visa.

When we heard this, we followed up with our US lawyer and Robin at Hopscotch as the medical visa is what they had recommended and we had the belief based on conversations with them that there was a good chance we'd be approved. Our lawyer responded that our chances "were slim". This was not the news we had hoped for. If we are not able to get Aria home via this route, we will have to wait until August to return to Guyana to complete the adoption process. So it may be another 2 months until we are able to travel back and complete the adoption. This is a very long time considering all of Aria's needs and knowing how each day her needs are not being met. Please send up your prayers that we can get the medical visa for Aria. There is still a chance as it is the sole discretion of the person assigned to our case on the day of our visa appointment. We will need a miracle.

We wrapped up our call just as we were arriving to Jocelyn's home. Jocelyn lives in a neighborhood created by squatters. It is a very poor area just on the outskirts of Georgetown. To get to Jocelyn's home from the road, we had to walk a small plank board that runs over a ditch full of water. I can not imagine how Jocelyn is able to carry Aria and her belongings over the water. It was extremely concerning. Shane carefully carried Aria over the ditch.  He was terrified as he slowly moved along the wobbly board with Aria in his arms.

We spent quite a bit more time at Jocelyn's house than we had planned. I was having a very hard time leaving. Before we left, Jocelyn said a prayer for Aria. Then we said our goodbyes as Jocelyn placed Aria in her pack-n-play and we hesitantly walked down the stairs towards the door. The only saving grace was hearing Aria giggling as Jocelyn's youngest daughter and eldest granddaughter played peek-a-boo with our sweet girl.

While we know Jocelyn and her family care deeply for Aria, knowing how bad of shape she was in when we arrived to Guyana leaves us extremely anxious and fearful that she will remain in the same system that overlooked her needs for far too long.

We left Geogetown on the red-eye flight arriving to Miami at 5:00 am EST. From there we made our way through customs, grabbed a bite to eat and then boarded the flight bound for home.

We are so happy to be home and finally see Owen, Cole, Rose and Kate. We missed them like crazy but they were in excellent hands having a blast in our absence with Nana Judy, Popi Dave and Aunt Donna. We are so grateful they were able to take care of our crew while we were gone.

Now that we have Jocelyn's phone number, we are able to check in on Aria whenever we'd like to. We spoken with Dr. Jabour, the pediatrician, this afternoon. He asked to see Aria again in a couple weeks, so I sent a text via Whatsapp to Jocelyn letting her know and asking how our sweet girl was doing. She called shortly after and happily reported Aria was doing well. This evening, Jocelyn called again, this time it was a video call so we could say good night to Aria. It was so wonderful to see that sweet little face.

Please continue to pray for Aria. Pray for her health and safety. And pray that we will have success obtaining a medical visa so she can come home at the end of the June to begin receiving all the proper medical care and therapies that she so desperately needs.