The Process

Some of you have asked about the DNA testing. Here's the deal. The US requires verification that the woman presenting herself as Samantha's birth mom is in fact the birth mother. To verify this, our attorney makes an appointment at a lab in Guatemala City. Her office notifies Samantha's birth mother of the appointment and she shows up at the appointed place and time(hopefully!). The foster mom will bring Samantha to the same place at the same time. Pictures are taken of Samantha with her birth mother and then DNA samples are taken. The samples are shipped overnight to a lab in North Carolina. It takes about three days to get the results which are emailed to us, faxed to the US Embassy and to our adoption agency. As long as the DNA is a positive match, the adoption can continue. We are not expecting any problems. Once the US Embassy receives the results they have at least 60 days (which they are currently taking full advantage of) to issue a pre-approval of a visa. Those of us in the adoption world call this the PA. Once there is a PA, we can proceed through the Guatemalan court system (PGN). While we can't see the future or anticipate how quickly things will move, we are still hopeful that we will have Samantha home by Thanksgiving. It's a crazy process involving two very bureaucratic governments who don't always see eye-to-eye! So, we wait and trust that El Roi the God who sees is watching over our paperwork and our daughter and knows exactly when she will be home! Thanks again for all your support. It means so much to us!