Angie adopted Jada as a seven-month old baby from a Vietnam orphanage. But Vietnamese and U.S. officials stalled the adoption process.
Angie’s very public fight for her daughter last year, resulted in other families joining with her. The Vietnamese government approved the stalled adoptions. The email that changed everything came two days before Christmas. Then on Christmas Day, Angie officially became Jada’s adoptive mother.
Vietnam is set to ratify the Hague Convention on February 1, and Ireland has been taking steps toward a new adoption agreement, with an eye on resuming adoptions early this year.
Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald, who recently returned from talks with officials in Hanoi, said she had made significant progress over key issues. “The best interests of the child have been key to our discussions,” she said. “There is now agreement on all the main issues such as safeguards relating to consent, dealing with central authorities and issues to do with money.”
When the adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam lapsed in May 2009, there were 19 couples at an advanced stage of adopting a child from Vietnam and well over 200 who were at an earlier stage.
Ms Fitzgerald said that, under the new agreement, those couples will be given priority treatment.
A time of celebration, tears of joy, and indescribable emotion. Wednesday, two central Indiana families got their miracle, years in the making.
Three years ago, three Indiana couples thought they were months away from rescuing their children from a decaying Vietnam orphanage. They had no idea what they were about to encounter.
It took 1,291 days of fighting with everything they had in them, but now a promise to never lose hope has a happy ending for two of those families…
The families have spent the past five weeks in Vietnam fighting to bring their children home. They said without the help of Senator Richard Lugar none of this would have ever happened. They said he is the only reason they have their miracle.
Their adoption officially went through on Christmas morning.
“I now believe in miracles,” said Nick LeRoy
Six of the 16 Bac Lieu orphans are now here in the United States. Two of them are right here in Indiana. We are told the others, including the Cowley family, should be home soon.
On November 29, Ambassador David Shear visited Bac Lieu province in southeast Vietnam. His itinerary in the province included a visit to Bac Lieu orphanage and meetings with local officials.
While the Embassy has given no further public details about the orphanage visit or meetings with Bac Lieu officials, it is possible that discussions could be related to the 16 Bac Lieu “pipeline” adoption cases.
