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Hello all. In late July we received an unofficial referral for a 5 month old baby boy born in Bocas del Toro province. This Wednesday, Oct 4th, our attorney is flying to Changuinola to meet with the judge there to get permission to visit the baby at the hogar. The orphanage he is in does not allow visitors without judicial approval. She is also requesting permission to remove him from the orphanage and assign him to my husband's aunt, in Panama, as a substitute/foster home until the adoption process is complete. If all is approved, we will be travelling to meet the baby as soon as he moves to our aunt's house; I will be staying with the baby while my husband comes back to Florida to work until it's time to pick us up for good. We have been led to believe the TPR process has already been started, as the baby is officially abandoned (authorities had to name him and also assign a date of birth, I believe). We have been told, in so many words, the TPR will wrap up very quickly because of his legal status and circumstances of his abandonment...that the search for family is basically a technicality and no snags are expected to occur.
We have yet to receive any photos or detailed information about the baby boy since he has not been officially referred to us. For some reason this is taking two judges (one in Panama City and one in Bocas del Toro) to make him officially ours. We think the baby has been moved to Panama City but the birth province maintains final say-so of the adoption proceedings, hence two jurisdictions involved. We're not sure of much, which is par for the course.
I yearn for an email from our lawyer with a photo attached so that this long arduous process finally feels real.
I hope God blesses everyone soon who is still waiting, and of course hope He continues to bless everyone who gets to tuck their little ones in at night.
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