Hanoi To Home On Thanksgiving
McClains Return Home After Month Overseas With New Child
Last updated Wednesday, November 21, 2007 5:31 PM CST in News
By Brandon Marcello
THE MORNING NEWS
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ROGERS -- Being home for Thanksgiving has new meaning for Teri McClain.
McClain withstood more than one month in Vietnam, waiting on a legal adoption to be processed by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.
Despite staying in seven hotels, several thousand dollars in traveling costs, phone cards and 30 hours of sitting in airplanes and airport terminals, the expense and wait was well worth it, McClain said.
McClain, along with husband Fred and their first adopted daughter Lauren, traveled to Vietnam last month to adopt baby Kate. The trip was planned to take no more than two weeks, but lasted until Nov. 16 because the family was forced to wait for approval of Kate's visa application.
No reason was given for the wait, Teri said.
"It was bad enough we were gone so long, but with Thanksgiving coming up, we were really worried," said Teri, who was still recovering from jet lag Tuesday. "We just had to get home."
Teri returned to her Rogers home Friday with baby Kate who will be 6 months old tomorrow. The McClains arrived in Hanoi on Oct. 13 to complete an adoption from an orphanage in Vinh City in the Nghe An province.
Everything seemed to be fine. The carefully prepared paperwork, dossier and giving and receiving ceremony on Oct. 17 seemed to be signs the end of a yearlong journey was near.
The end didn't come until nearly a month later when Teri received word Kate's visa to the United States had been approved.
"If they would have told us in the beginning that it would be two weeks or however long, and that there was a problem, we would have been OK," Teri said. "But they kept telling us they'd call tomorrow, then the next day. When we figured out they were messing around, that's when we felt hopeless."
The paperwork was approved by the Vietnamese government soon after the giving and receiving ceremony, but the holdup was with the U.S. Consulate, Teri said.
The waiting game wore on the family, and Fred and Lauren McClain decided to fly back stateside Nov. 3. The day-to-day search for food, safe water and a place to stay was hurting Fred, who has arthritis.
"When I got back, I kissed the ground," Fred McClain said.
Fred and Lauren tried to get back into a groove of normalcy upon their return. Lauren went back to school and Fred started doing housework.
Both waited patiently for word that Teri and Kate were coming home.
Fred contacted the offices of U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and U.S. 3rd District Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, seeking help.
"I called everyone I knew to help," Fred said. "They were sick of me."
The U.S. Embassy never issued a Notice of Intent of Denial for Kate's visa, which alerts a family their adoption is being investigated. The McClains were told by officials they weren't being investigated by the consulate.
About 15 families are dealing with the notices of an intent of denial in Vietnam now, said Thomas DiFilipo, president of the Joint Council on International Children's Services.
The government has up to 60 days to investigate, according to law, DiFilipo said.
"But they don't always have to issue one," DiFilipo said. "It's common practice, but it doesn't always happen. That's what probably happened here."
The Department of Intercountry Adoptions in Vietnam notified the U.S. Embassy that adoptions, specifically an orphanage's referral for the availability of a child's adoption, were temporarily suspended Nov. 5 in the Phu Tho province.
Two other provinces are under investigation now for questionable adoption practices, DiFilipo said.
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi issued an announcement of concern earlier this month.
"The ongoing number of irregularities that we are currently seeing strongly indicates that the adoption process in Vietnam still lacks sufficient oversight and regulation," according to the document released by the embassy and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in Ho Chi Minh City.
"We heard of the problems. We weren't the only ones being held up," Teri said.
McClain was part of a four-family group prepared by Ventures For Children International of Fayetteville and sent to Vietnam to adopt children.
"I know the embassy was busy, but it seemed like they were just holding us up," Teri said. "If they're not going to investigate us, they should have just let us go home."
Five-year-old Lauren was adopted from Guatemala when she was 10 weeks old. That process only took four days, Teri said.
"It certainly was a different journey for us," Teri said. "There's one thing I'm happy about, though. Kate has always been very happy and healthy throughout this ordeal. The doctors really couldn't believe she looked so good."
Teri plans to go back to work Dec. 2 at Mathias Elementary and Grace Hill Elementary schools where she serves as an art teacher.
For now, though, she's happy to be relaxed at home with her new child, Kate.
"I'm so glad to be home with her on Thanksgiving," she said.
AT A GLANCE
McClain Adoption Timeline
* October 2006 Family signs with Ventures For Children International to find a child
* December Family finishes adoption dossier
* January Dossier sent to Ventures for Children International with fees
* July McClains receive child referral from Ventures For Children International
* August McClains told giving and receiving ceremony in Vinh, Vietnam, pushed back
* Oct. 13 McClains arrive in Hanoi, Vietnam
* Oct. 17 McClains participate in giving and receiving ceremony at orphanage in Vinh, Vietnam
* Oct. 18 Paperwork filed at U.S. Embassy
* Oct. 19 Application for baby Kate's passport filed
* Oct. 23 McClain family's interview with U.S. Consulate
* Oct. 26 Passport for Kate is approved
* Nov. 3 Fred and Lauren McClain depart Vietnam for Rogers
* Nov. 9 Teri McClain's visa expires, renewed for 30 days.
* Nov. 14 Kate McClain's visa approved by U.S. Embassy.
* Nov. 16 Teri and Kate McClain return to Rogers.
Source: Staff Report, Teri McClain
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