My young nephews

Two of my nephews are under two years of age.  I love watching them develop as they discover new things that they can do.  I think about my little one in Bulgaria and wonder what milestones he/she is  reaching.  I get some comfort from the fact that although I will miss some of my own child's develpmental stage, at least I can experience them through my two nephews.

Recently, John (1yr 2 months) passed on his walker to Daniel (9 months).  I'm not sure if it was voluntary on John's part.  He was looking at Daniel as if to say 'what's that boy doing in my walker?' but just a few minutes later he was happily pushing Daniel around the kitchen in the walker - much to Daniels delight.

John is attempting to walk now.  He's holding on to furniture but then every now and then he'll let go for a few minutes.  The other day he realised he was standing on his own and looked round to see who was watching him.  When he saw his mum and his granny he raised his hands above his head as if in celebration of his achievement.  Sooo cute.

Daniel is sitting up on his own now and getting steadier every day.  This allows him to play with his musical toys and ball.  Last week I called in to see him and I had my hair tied back (very unusual for me).  It was amusing seeing Daniels bewildered expression when he realised that he recognised the voice but couldn't figure out why it didn't match the face he was used to.  Eventually he realised it was me.

I hope that my little one will be joining our family this year - he/she should be around the same age as these two little boys and I look forward to watching them grow up together.

ADDITIONAL FEES

I haven't updated this blog in a while.  Mostly, I suppose, because not much has been happening - I'm at the waiting stage hoping for a referral soon.  So I've just been waiting and waiting - not much to write about there!

I keep an eye on the MOJ weekly updates to keep my spirits up and I have been cheered to see an increase in referrals recently.

According to my calculations, in 2010 there were around 340 referrals made from Bulgaria but in 2011 there were just over 400.  Hopefully this means the wait is decreasing for all us PAP's.  Just as I was spurred on by this good news we got news of increased fees as we now have to use an Irish Agency as well as the Bulgarian Agency to be Hague Compliant.


Ireland ratified the Hague Convention by the enactment of the Adoption Act 2010 on 1st November 2010.  A new agency was set up to deal with our Adoptions from Bulgaria and it now seems that our costs will be double what we had previously been quoted.  I am outraged by this as we have done all the paper work etc ourselves so far and the only thing left will be the flow of documentation back and forth from Bulgaria in relation to our referral, and the acceptance of that referral . 

I am feeling totally disheartened at this point.  Adoption is supposed to be in the interest of the Children and I cannot see how such substantially increased fees can be justified or how they are in the interest of the Child.

I don't mean to moan but just needed to vent my frustration.

KATIE'S BIRTHDAY

Katie, my niece, celebrated her 7th Birthday at our house on Saturday.  It was the first time the whole family (Granny, her 7 children, their spouses, as well as all 9 grandchildren) had been together in a long time.  It was a great weekend.  This is the cake we made at Katie's request.  Can you guess who it is?  We just can't wait for my little one to join us and enjoy family days like the one we just had.

Dossiers sent directly to Bulgarian Agency before 1st November 2010 - enactment of the Adoption Act 2010.

As my dossier was sent to Bulgaria before the enactment of the Adoption Act on 1st November 2010, I was unsure as to how things would play out when it came to the referral stage.  I sent a quick email to the Central Authority here in Ireland to check if there would be any potential issues at the time of referral.


This is the reply I received:


Persons proposing to adopt from a Hague Convention State after 1/11/2010 should satisfy themselves that their adoption complied withe the terms and conditions of the Hague Convention i.e.


- that the Article 15 Assessment Report should be sent from Central Authority (CA) to Cantral Authority (or a designated Accredited Body (AB))


- the the Article 16 Child Study Report should be from CA to CA (or a designated AB)


- that the Article 17 Approval Notice should be sent from CA to CA (or a designated AB)


- that the final Article 23 Certificate should be issued by a CA (or a designated AB)
As my Assessment report was sent directly by me to the Agency in Bulgaria I was also told that a question may arise if / when I go to seek an entry in the Register of Intercountry Adoptions as  to whether the adoption was effected under the terms and conditions of the Hague  Convention as the adoption was not finalised before 1st November 2010.

There is no provision in Irish legislation for the  recognition of an intercountry adoption from a Hague Convention State that has  not been carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Hague  Convention.

In order to achieve a successful outcome, I was told that I should at least  ensure that the Hague Convention applies to the process from here on in i.e.  that the Article 16 Child Study Report (Referral) is sent by the agency in Bulgaria to the Central Authority here in Ireland for approval.  



This is just something to bear in mind so that we are not faced with unnecessary heartache at the time of referral.  What I take from this is that we just need to make sure that our Agency sends the referral directly to our central authority so that at least from this point on our adoption complies with the Conditions of the Hague Convention