We received more good news today!
The DNA test was performed on both the birthmother and Maria on Thursday, July 20th. Our adoption coordinator said that the test was completed without issue....so that is good news on a Friday afternoon!

We Received More Pictures Of Maria Today!
These Were Taken On July 4th.
They Again Put Her In Some Of The Clothes We Sent!

I received this information from our adoption agency, World Partners Adoption, today. Hopefully this step will go smoothly and quickly!

DNA and Preapproval

Congratulations, all of your documents have entered the US Embassyand your journey through this portion of adoption process has begun—Preapproval.

Initially, the attorney will schedule an appointment with an EmbassyLab to take DNA samples of the child's biological mother, and thechild you are in the process of adopting. This is done through cheekcell samples taken form the inside of the child's and the bio-mother's mouth.

When we receive the DNA request from the Embassy, we will send italong with an authorization and payment form to you, so that you canpay for the test completion. The samples are then sent to LABCORP inBurlington NC. This is who processes the DNA test.Some attorneys schedule this appointment to coincide with the Socialworker appointment that will occur in Family Court, while others keepthem separate. The attorneys who complete the appointments togetherdo this to minimize the contact between the child and the biologicalmother. It also can tend to be easier to bring the biological motherinto the city for one trip to complete two processes. Each attorneyhas their preference in accomplishing these tasks. There is not oneway that is better than the other. They are equally successful.

Once the test is complete, the lab sends the Samples to LabCorp andthe DNA is processed and analyzed. In almost all of the cases thetwo samples are a match and maternity is proven to a 99.9 % certaintywhich is required by the Embassy. If the results are below 99.9 %LabCorp will dig deeper to obtain the appropriate match.

If the rare occasion happens and the purported bio-mom is in fact notthe mother, meaning that the tests resulted in a 0% probability, thatchild will be lost as a referral. This is very rare, but is apossibility. Our attorneys do much work prior to the process to makesure the purported bio-mother is in fact the mother. Once again, thisis extremely rare, but we want you to be fully aware of theintricacies of international adoption in Guatemala.

Once the testing is complete and the samples have been matched, youwill receive a DNA match sheet with all of the appropriateinformation. Many families receive a photo of the child's birthmother within this packet, as well. WPA will also receive the resultsand will authenticate those results and send them to Guatemala and toyour attorney.

Simultaneously, the Embassy will have received from LabCorp theresults and begun the Pre-approval process. This process can takeanywhere from 3 to 12 weeks depending on how quickly the Embassy isoperating. We may also receive an I-72 notice requesting additionalforms that generally require the attorney to submit new forms fromGuatemala, or possibly a modified I600 or G-28 form from you. Onceagain, each adoption is unique and every case will proceeddifferently.

At some point you, the attorney and WPA will be notified via e-mailthat pre-approval is ready. Once that Pre-approval notice has beenissued, and the attorney has picked up the Pre-approval (usually 2 to3 days later), you are prepared to enter PGN. You will not enter PGNthough, if the Family Court process is not complete. (See previous e-mail regarding Family Court) In order to enter PGN, your case must beout of Family Court, Pre-Approval must be issued, and theauthenticated DNA results must be in Guatemala.

This process can be frustrating because of the Embassy and theirsometime infrequent or total lack of communication. This US Embassyoffice processes hundreds of cases at a time. Like most embassiesthey are understaffed; but, trust that in the majority of cases thereis not an "overall" pre-approval problem that effects the adoption ofa child, only waiting for the pre-approval to be issued.

Overall process time – 10 to 14 weeks.

We received some updated measurements today. I would have to say they are not incredibly up to date as they are over a month old, but we were told from the beginning to be happy with what little information was forwarded to us and so we are!
On 6-June-06 Maria weighed 10.8 pounds has a length of 56 cms. and a head circumference of 37 cms. She was 10 weeks old at that time, so I think she is pretty normal for a Guatemalan child...they are smaller than US children. We hope to receive updated pictures soon and we will get them on this site as soon as we do.

We finally received our I-171. This document states that we have notice of favorable determination concerning application for advance processing of orphan petition. It basically means that we have been approved through the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service) to bring an orphan into the United States. The document had to be sent to the Secretary of State of South Dakota to be "Great Sealed" and then to the Consulate of Guatemala in Denver to be "Authenticated". Our adoption coordinator received the document from the Consulate today and now it will be sent to Guatemala with the rest of our dossier to be translated into Spanish.