roll call for BG

Hi everyone, I cannot believe that it is taking so long to receive a referral. I thought it would just be a couple of months and Mrs. Norton has been registered since July 29, is anyone using Adopt An Angel International? We started this process in August but our dossier has been in Bulgaria going on about 6 or 7 weeks and we haven't even heard if we are registered with the MOJ yet. Nicole

T's dad and mom, Is your daughter on the registry and you are just waiting for a court date? I beleive that possibly the reason we didn't get referred the 2nd older child is that they do not have any older children registered. We would have loved to have an older child in addition to our 2 1/2 year old. Dana, When did you send over your dossier and when was it officially translated and legalised. What date did your agency file your dossier with the MoJ. Your agency should be able to get you that information. My agency registered my dossier with the MoJ approximately 2 weeks after she received it for translation which I think is what happened with Rita as well. But the INS was added about 5 weeks later. Mary

Nicole, You should be able to find out whether your papers are translated and at the MoJ from your agency and they should be able to provide you with a number but you should realize that it will probably be AT LEAST 5-6 months for a referral. There are a lot of folks ahead of you. Most adoptions take around a year plus or minus many months. No one should be promising you any short times on this new system. Remember that there was absolutely NO movement or referrals from Aug 1-Nov 15th (or so) and that now they are having meetings every 2 weeks to match registered kids to registered families. No one knows how many matches are made during each of these meetings. I hope that we will soon hear of many matches. Mary

I hope we will hear of some matches made very soon also. Even if I don't hear anything about my own adoption it is always nice to come on this board and hear about someone elses dreams about to come true. I know ours will come in time. Being a stay at home mom I guess I have more time to dwell on what is not happening. By the way I would like to congratulate you on your upcoming trip. It is just around the corner. I have never flown so when we go it will be my first time. My husband has flown a lot so it is no big deal to him. I hope you have a safe flight. Nicole

Hi Nicole, We are also using Adopt An Angel. If you find out about the registry number thing, let me know. I have not been told about when we will be notified when we are officially registered. We sent our dossier the week before Christmas and we were told it was being sent over for translation. No clue on when we'll be "registered." I think the ministry is still closed down for the Christmas holiday. I bet by the end of the month we'll all be hearing of more action. Thanks Maria

Hey Maria, It is wonderful to talk to everyone but it is especially nice to talk with someone who is also using your own agency. I e-mailed the director on Monday or Tuesday and she said they(Bulgaria office I assumed) was closed until Jan. 6th. which is tomorrow. Do you live in Georgia? We live in S.C. Talk to you soon. Nicole

Hi Mary: From what I understand my dossier was registered and legalized at the same time. The dossier was sent over in July but the attorney wanted to wait until the INS letter was in the packet before submitting the letter. Also, in September I had to get re-fingerprinted for the FBI and then another medical letter. There is a couple that started the process at the same time with me. They have had more difficulty and while our dossiers were sent over at the same time apparently theirs was put behind mine. It seems that even though they were "registered" the documents delay the date or something. It is very confusing but I hope to have more info next week. Good luck to everyone! Dana

The way it worked for us was we sent our documents (7/12) over to be translated and that took 2 weeks, they then were legalized (apostile in Bulgaria) and then taken to the MoJ where they were registered(without INS) on 7/29/04. I hope you hear something soon. Mary

Hi, I am new to adoption forums. We have just sent our application in to adopt from Bulgaria so we are in the very beginning stages. I hear this can be a long process so I'm just going to have to sit back and be very patient. We have two bio children at home so hopefully I can stay focused on them and not how long the adoption process takes. Good Luck to everyone else!

We returned from our 1st trip totally in love with our son and his birth country. He is 2 1/2 and a doll. Very happy and beautiful smile. He has private caregiver weekdays and he is very bonded to her and we are very grateful for this. She will be now taking him home on weekends for us so that he can become more accustomed to a real family. We took 3 duffles of donations (>#150 lbs worth) and they were greatly appreciated and I saw them being dispensed to the different buildings and used on the children. We were allowed to see our son from 9-12 and 3-5 each day and no one balked if we came early or stayed late. He was able to receive a special IV medicine that I had brought and did wonderfully with it. We were not kept segregated but were allowed to play with all the kids in his group and bring them fruit, cookies, toys and stuff. That interaction was wonderful. We hugged and held a lot of kids last week. We were able to video and take pictures without question and we took him for walks 1-2 times a day. Bulgaria is very poor but the people we got to meet were very nice and I beleive we have made friends for life. We were in Kazanluk(Central Bulgaria) and the weather was much warmer than expected. The food was good and very inexpensive and for 8 days we spent about $500 total for hotel, food (usually for 4 as we felt we should buy), souvenirs and some nice artwork. We ate in nice restaurants and did no fast food. They have no Mountain Dew so I had to drink Amstel. I hope that you all get to experience this very soon. Now we wait for a signiture from the Minister of Justice(who I have heard doesn't like to sign things) so if you all could pray hard that that pen will pick itself up and sign,sign,sign.................PLEASE.

Hi Mary, Sounds like you had a wonderful stay. I am so pleased tha you are almost done after all of the waiting. How did your son react to having a family..did you bring a picture book? did they let you leave pictures there with him? I will keep praying for you!! Vicki

We took a picture book and had it labelled with Bulgarian translations ie: this is your great big family waiting for you, this is your brother and he likes spiders etc. The nurses got a kick out of it. yes he kept the book and if the previous referral child was any example they carry these books around with them (even the kids who it's not their family). He has a caretaker who promises to read to him from it everyday. When you get a chance email me privately....I lost your email addy.

Just wanted to update you all and let you know that we finally got the Minister's signature and 1 week later had our court date and our now the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy(2.5 years). I will travel on April 13th to pick him up. We will get his new BC and Passport in the next 20 days and then I wil get his US visa when I am there. We are very excited and hope to hear of more movement while we are there.

Congratulations Mary! I am very happy for you. Have a safe and memorable trip. Many blessings to your new little boy. Please bring back good news for the rest of us if you can! Maria

So glad to hear that someone is getting to travel and bring home a little one! Hopefully movement will start with others soon. Mary have a safe journey and congratulations! Dana