WE ARE IN PGN!!!!

Hey, we wanted to let everyone know we are officially in PGN (this is the final court stage of the process). Our agency confirmed a few days ago we entered on Friday, Sept 28 and were assigned to a reviewer. From what was explained to me by the agency, there are 3 stages of this court process. The first stage consists of a panel of 12 reviewers and they review your adoption file for any missing documents or errors and if you need something fixed you'll receive a kick out as they call it. If this happens (which is not uncommon at all and most people do get a kick out for one reason or another depending on the reviewer), the attorney will be notified immediately to have it corrected and resubmitted. When the resubmit happens you basically start back at the beginning. The one bad part here is this.. if you get a kick out and it's say at the beginning of your file, they don't look any further for more errors or missing documents. therefore, if by chance there were something missing beyond that document you would in turn receive another kick out and this can for some be what seems like a never ending process. Since our particular attorney's office held our file from September 13 until the 28th for "review to check for errors to prevent a kick out one can only hope they caught anything that would have been wrong before we entered. Anyway, if nothing needs correcting, you'll move to the 2nd reviewer panel and this consists of 3 people. Your assigned to one of the three and they say this is where most of your wait takes place. I am assuming since there is only 3 in this stage processing the same number of cases as the 12 did in the 1st reviewer stage. Once you clear the 2nd reviewer, you move to the last sign off by the "big dog", he's like our attorney general and he signs all the adoption cases to finalize it all. I have never gotten whether each stage looks for something different or what but, you can receive a kick out from any of the 3 stages. We know as we have said over and over though, this adoption is covered in prayer and we're on God's timing when we'll be done with this long viscous process. When they warned that adoption is not for the faint at heart boy, were they not kidding about that. Some days we miss Levi so bad it's unbearable. The simplest thing can remind you of him and it's just terrible. Leaving him there and coming home was by far the hardest thing we've ever had to do. That is saying a lot in all that we've been through. Please keep us in your prayers and continue to believe he's home by Christmas. We'll keep you all updated here on his blog with any news we get.
We do still need anyone who hasn't signed the petitions online to please do so now. If you need the link to sign please email me and I'll forward it to you. We are all still in the process of contacting our Representatives i.e. Senators and Congressman to have them pressure the government in Guatemala to allow any in progress cases continue under the old laws we entered in agreement under and not the new ones they are passing now stating adoptions will stop January 1, 2008. We're believing that they'll be an amendment made to the new "Ortega law" that was passed this past week stating there would be no "grandfathering in" of cases not completed by December 31st. We as adoptive parents have bound together to be heard all across the country. there are currently 5,000 pending cases in different stages. If they are not allowed to continue (but, we're praying and believing they will proceed) those 5,000 plus children would end up in the streets begging for food because they currently have no welfare system there to support them. BUT--- God is bigger than the Guatemalan government and can shake that country like never before and bring them all home by December 31st.
One last and very important request, please say a special prayer for our friends, Nancy and Eric McGee. They are Isaac's parents, Levi's foster brother's parents currently in process too. They have had the worst time trying to gather a much needed and required document to allow their case to enter the court stage (PGN). That document was their social worker report. Apparently, after more run around than we care to mention at this point, been informed this particular social worker is holding and refusing to release several reports from different attorneys processing adoptions in Guatemala. That group of attorneys have joined together and learned she has done this to several cases and they are in the process of filing formal charges against her on Monday. Hopefully, this will be a speedy process forcing her through the court to supply these reports. That is all they are waiting for to enter PGN and be assigned a reviewer. Eric and Nancy received their pre approval a month ago and have now lost these precious days waiting for this report. In a time where everyday counts and we're working against the clock to meet the December 31st deadline before all the proposed changes take effect, this happening was not in good timing for sure. HOWEVER, they are yet another couple of praying parents and believe this is all in God's timing and that this must be happening for a reason. I'm sure they'll never know why but, let's just pray for Nancy's strength through all this because her heart is as broken as mine missing her baby too. Every passing day she has waited has taken it's toll on her mentally, physically and certainly brought her under spiritual attack by the enemy too. Please pray for both our boys that they'll be home soon and this mess will all be behind us.- Tracy (aka Levi's mommy)