Children's Hope International E-Newsletter

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

All in His Perfect Timing
A Russia Adoption Story

Adoption MD
Depressed and Combating Infertility: Anti-Depressant Alternatives

DEVELOPMENT AID:

	Development Aid In the Small Things and the Big: Impacting Lives, Yours Through Theirs
	3 Days of Focus A Call to Action: Youth to Turn iPods Off; Their Focus on God, On

BLOG OF THE MONTH:

Reflections
A Winding Road
Leads to a Son

PARENT-TO-PARENT:

Parent-To-Parent
Adopting an Older Child

KIDS CORNER:

Kids Corner
Happy Holidays for
'Crayon' Out Loud!

PROGRAM UPDATES:

	China Eleven Children Enter into the Hearts of Eleven Families
	Colombia Waiting for and Uniting - Families
	Ethiopia February Truly a Month of Love for Families Traveling to Ethiopia
	Kazakhstan Program Director Returns From Kazakhstan
	Russia Waiting Families to Experience a Big Spurt of Travel, Post-Accreditation and Post-Holidays!

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is right for your family.

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Our Accreditations

VIETNAM PROGRAM UPDATES

It is a great start to Vietnam�s New Year! Children�s Hope received 3 referrals for our families after Vietnam�s celebration of their national holiday: a 2-month-old girl and a 3-month-old boy, both from Kien Giang province, and a 6-month-old girl from the Tam Binh 2 orphanage. They are all adorable and we are so thrilled for the families. Congratulations to all the new families!

Currently, there are two Children�s Hope families in Vietnam completing their adoptions. Two more families, traveling early next week, will celebrate their Giving & Receiving ceremonies as they finalize their child�s Vietnamese adoption on February 21. In the last week of January, three families successfully completed their adoptions and arrived home as a united family. We expect March to be a very busy travel month, bringing families and their children together!

Vietnamese New Year: This month, Vietnam celebrated their New Year and the incoming Year of the Rat. Chuc Mung Nam Moi! Children born in the Year of the Rat are known to be very popular, enjoy inventing and creating. �Rats� know exactly where to find solutions and can take care of themselves and others without problems. They use their instinctive sense of observation to help others in times of need and are among the most fit of all the Animal signs to survive most any situation.

Sending gifts to your children � Children�s Hope International�s policy states that you may send a small photo album and small (beanie baby size) stuffed animal to your child if your child is 2 years or older. Families now wishing to send an item to their toddler or older child will ship these gifts directly to Vietnam. Contact your adoption consultant for details.

On Monday, January 25, the US State Department released two statements concerning Vietnam international adoptions:

Warning Concerning Adoptions in Vietnam

Vietnam Intercountry Adoption Concerns

Key note of the US State Department warning: The 2005 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), required by Vietnamese law to authorize adoptions between the United States and Vietnam, expires on September 1, 2008.

The US State department is warning families just now applying to agencies for the Vietnam program. Due to the timing of the process, a family now applying will not receive a referral or submit their completed adoption paperwork to Vietnam prior to the MOU expiring in September. Children�s Hope International is continuing to accept applications and will do so even if a new MOU is not reached.

If you are a new application family, we will continue to inform you of the current conditions in Vietnam, as we have been for our families leading up to this State Department release. Children�s Hope International will continue to receive referrals and families will continue to travel to Vietnam for at least another year or longer. If there is a short moratorium, during which the two countries come to a new agreement if necessary, the impact could be minimal to our families and another agreement may be signed soon thereafter.

Hanoi Quarterly US Embassy Meeting: Thuy, our main representative in Vietnam, attended the quarterly US embassy meeting in Hanoi for all adoption agencies. The new I-600 procedures were discussed for agencies whose families had not yet traveled under the new I-600 (immigration form for internationally adopted children).

A group of US officials will travel to Vietnam in March to discuss the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vietnam government. In March, written letters may be exchanged between the two governments to resign the MOU which expires this year. If the written letters are not exchanged in March, then the MOU will expire on September 1, 2008, and agencies will no longer be allowed to submit new dossiers after this time. Therefore, more details concerning the MOU will be coming soon.

Pictured here celebrating her first American Valentine�s in 2008, Mia discovers hearts, icing and candy with her sister Helayna Schweig. Parents Michelle and Eric adopted Mia in January 2007 from Vietnam.

If you would like to share your thoughts, experiences or stories about your adoption,
email: Jennifer Newcomb at Jennifer.Newcomb@ChildrensHope.net

We would love to post your family pictures!