[kzwief]

I just wanted to remind everyone that we are still doing "Target Tuesday" with JCICS. Please email JCICS Tuesday, September 30 about RENAP Birth Certificates. Allie on Guatadopt sent a similar message to JCICS last week and Telissa and I loved the idea. Here is what we are going to do this week. We need you to make your email to them personal. If you are waiting for a BC from RENAP, please follow my example in the email. You need to state how many days you have been waiting for your BC from RENAP and which municipality you are waiting for. Then become creative, or use my examples:

This is their email: JCICS@JCICS.ORG

Dear JCICS,

As you know, many families have been stuck in the last part of their Guatemalan adoption process waiting for birth certificates from RENAP. We would still like to know when our children will be coming home? What is the process for RENAP to issue birth certificates? What is the timeframe in which these birth certificates will be issued? What are the current issues with why birth certificates are taking so long to be issued? We urge you to continue to ask these questions for us. In the meantime, our children will continue to miss important events in all of our lives.

In our own personal case, Katelyn has been OUT of PGN since August 18. We have been waiting for a birth certificate from Coban, RENAP, since September 2. In the 29 days we have been waiting these are some of the things we have missed out on:

We have missed 29 bedtime stories.
We have missed 29 trips to the park.
We have missed 29 days of seeing her smiling face.
We have missed 58 changes of clothes.
We have missed 87 meals.
We have missed 87 bottles.
We have missed 58 snacks.
We have missed 203 diaper changes.
We have missed 8 trips to Grandma's.
We have missed cuddling her while she recovers from her cold.
We have missed her cutting her 18 month molars.
We have missed too many hugs and kisses to count.
We have missed more of her first words.
We have missed taking her to her cousin's birthday party.
We have missed watching her play in the fall leaves.
We have missed 29 walks with the dogs and Kate.
We have missed countless giggles.
We have missed her turning 16 months old.

How much more do we have to miss before she can come home? We hope and pray that she will be home by Thanksgiving, but we also hoped and prayed she would be home by Halloween. Just another deadline passed. Just another reminder of how much more we are missing.

Please speak with the officials in Guatemala and RENAP and urge them to issue birth certificates in a more timely manner. These are children waiting for their families. What have you missed in the last 29 days?

Sincerely,
Kim
Parent to Katelyn (16 months old), waiting for birth certificate for 29 days from Coban, Alta Verapaz (RENAP)