Home Study approved by State DHR

Well, we got great news from our social worker, our home study was approved by the Alabama DHR and was passed on to US Immigration (CIS)! We received copies of our home study in the mail on Saturday which allows us to apply for grants which we really need. Thanks for your prayers!

The matter in Tennessee has created a lot of questions. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said adoptions by US citizens have been suspended. The Russian Ministry of Education which is in charge of adoptions has publicly stated they have not suspended adoptions. Our agency has families over there right now and they have not had any issues to develop. That said, I am sure that by the time we go to court, there will be some new requirements for us to complete. The anger many families in the adoption community have for this Tennessee woman is very high. But a friend pointed out to me on Thursday afternoon that no one person could do this much damage - it is spiritual warfare. He is exactly right. The devil does not want any of these children to have a home and he also knows that there is an almost certainty that these children will learn the love of The Heavenly Father.

Adoption News

The only real news is that the events involving the Tennessee woman have caused a LOT of problems for parents trying to adopt from Russia. News reports this morning from major media outlets claim that Russia has stopped all adoptions from the United States. That may or may not be true. It seems the official that made the comment may not have had the authority to make such a decision. It could be he was repeating was he was told or speculating. We probably will not have any concrete news for a couple of days.

We still don't have a home study. We were told it would be available this week, but it is Thursday and I have not heard anything from them yet. Also, our Immigration paperwork was returned again. This time they said they needed Jeremy's birth certificate. The documentation we have does not state that we were supposed to send it in. That info will go out in tomorrow's mail.