Can you help my brother and sister-in-law?

They've been trying to adopt a little girl from China for a very long time and they've hit another snag in the process. In a nutshell, can you write a letter for them? I'd appreciate it so I can send them another big stuffed animal ;-)

Cute pictures of Molly on their blog.

Details:

As you know, we have been waiting to adopt our Molly for years. Now we finally have our referral and we are caught in a paperwork disgrace that is keeping our daughter in an orphanage for no other reason than red-tape – poorly administered red-tape at that! We were supposed to bring Molly home in September, but we are still waiting for our US visas to travel. It is the US holding us up – NOT China.

We are writing to ask for your help. In hopes that it will make a difference, we asking friends to please help us execute a more aggressive letter writing campaign in order to try to get things moving. We have been in touch with our Congressman, Senator and the Governor in Maryland as well as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. Some have been more helpful than others, but no one seems to have been able to make a difference so far.

If you could please bring this matter to the attention of your local representatives in Congress and in the Senate, it might have some impact. This link provides email address: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/. We know that a lot of local officials are in transition at the moment, but this information should be good for the next couple of months.

If you have time, we’d also like to ask you to please contact the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. Zoe Lofgren is the Chair (address below + email on her website. http://lofgren.house.gov/). Here is a link to a list of committee members: http://judiciary.house.gov/about/subimmigration.html. Please note that Randy Forbes is from Virginia (http://forbes.house.gov/zipauth.html) and Anthony Weiner is from NY (http://weiner.house.gov/).

In hopes that it will simplify the process for you, I’ve also included a basic ‘form’ letter that you can feel free to alter in any way (below).

I know I’m asking a lot of you in your busy lives. We can’t thank you enough for your help and look forward to sharing happy news soon.

Katharine and John


Suggested Information for Letter

I am writing on behalf of my friends John and Katharine Curtin and their daughter Molly. Thank you in advance for your help with this most important matter.

The Curtins are in the process of adopting a child from China. After a very long wait, they finally received their referral for a beautiful little girl from Hunan Province who is currently residing in the Chenzhou orphanage. Her Chinese name is Chen XiDi and her American name will be Margaret XiDi Curtin – Molly.

They were supposed to take custody of their daughter on September 2, 2008. However, they cannot travel without approval of their I-800A (Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country). Although they were already approved for an I-600A (the ‘pre-Hague’ version of this form) they had to file for the I-800A when they moved to Maryland in June 2008.

Even though they have a child waiting for them, no one will help them expedite their application. Worse yet, they have had no feedback at all since they filed their paperwork and the adoption community continues to hear about long waits and bureaucratic hold-ups. This all means that their beautiful little girl is left sitting in the orphanage when she should be home with her own loving family.

Every extra day that a child spends in an institutional environment contributes to developmental delays and complicates the transition once they are placed with their adoptive family. The longer Molly is waiting in the orphanage, the more difficult the adoption process will be for her. There are also concerns about her health since many of the babies were hospitalized last winter during the snowstorms that resulted in power losses and loss of heat for 8 days. If this resulted in asthma, as is apparently common in this region, she may need treatment. And now, as you may be aware, there is a major health crisis in China that endangers all children – tainted baby formula – which is causing kidney stones and even deaths.

Please help our friends bring their baby girl home.



Subcommittee on Immigration
The Honorable Zoe Lofgren, Chair - Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law
102 Cannon House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Telephone (202) 225-3072


Other officials we have contacted:
Maryland State Senator
The Honorable Barbara Mikulski
503 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington D.C., 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4654

Maryland Governor
The Honorable Martin O’Malley
100 State Circle
Annapolis, Maryland 21401-1925
410.974.3901

Congressman for Maryland’s 8th District
Congressman Chris Van Hollen
1707 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5341