Not much of an update...

I haven't posted an adoption update for a long time, mostly because I haven't had any positive updates to post. The past several months have been a little tough on the adoption front, but we're hoping that the new year will bring better news.

Back in August we were made aware of two siblings that were available for adoption. We submitted a formal referral request to the MOJ, but they were no longer available at the time of our request. Another family had already committed to adopting them. Although it wouldn't be with us, we were both happy that these beautiful children would be getting a new home soon.

We are currently working through some difficulties to get our home study updated and are hoping to have everything taken care of in a couple of months.

We received word a couple of weeks ago that the siblings from several months ago may be available again, but after doing a little research, I'm not sure that they are. We should hear back from our agency after the first of the year. Even if they are available, our home study update isn't. We are praying that our wonderful placement agency is able to work things out for us.

Our agency did receive it's first referral in December, so that seems to be positive news. We're hoping to see some more positive movement in Bulgaria and would love to have our children home with us by next Christmas.

Right now we're taking things one day at a time knowing that God has the perfect children picked out for us. Our pastor said this morning that God is with us every step of the way in our lives, and looking back, it's easy to see how He has been working in this process from the very beginning.

Adoption Tax Credit Extended and Increased

http://chrisitianallianceblog.org/

March 24, 2010

Amidst the intense controversy of the health care bill signed into law by President Obama yesterday, there’s at least one provision every orphan advocate can cheer. The adoption tax credit was preserved for another year…and increased in value!

To encourage and support adoption, the adoption tax credit was expanded by President Bush and Congress in 2001. This increased the value of the credit from $5,000 to $10,000, and indexed it for inflation (meaning the credit would increase each year to keep up with inflation.) For 2010, its value had risen to $12,170. However, the 2001 increase was scheduled to “sunset” at the end of 2010. This would mean that any adoptions finalized after December 31, 2010 would be eligible for—at most—a credit of only $5,000.

This sunset has now been extended one year. That means that it will need to be extended again before the end of 2011. For the present, however, this extension comes as very welcome news for families considering adoption or in the adoption process.

Specifically, the provisions contained in the health care bill include:

The current adoption tax credit has been extended until the end of 2011;
The value of the adoption tax credit has been increased from $12,170 to $13,170.
The increase is “retroactive,” meaning that any adoption occurring after January 1, 2010 is eligible for this higher credit.

The credit is now refundable. This means that even families that owe zero taxes can receive the full tax credit in the form of a tax refund to help with their adoption-related expenses.

Two Year Anniversary

Two years ago today we went to our first information meeting at Bethany Christian Services in Indianapolis. That night over dinner we decided that we were ready to move forward. We had been researching adoption for several months and had attended another agency’s meeting a few weeks earlier. We were happy with Bethany and knew right away that we wanted to work with them.

We’ve prepared dossiers for two different countries, worked with two different agencies, been fingerprinted 5-6 times, been tested multiple times for infectious diseases, been to many education classes at the Bethany office, read lots of books about parenting adopted children, started learning Bulgarian and studying the culture, and networked with other families in the process. We are now preparing to meet with our social worker to our second home study update since ours expires in mid-October. This also includes another round of fingerprints, CPS checks in three states, updated financial forms, and visits to our doctor.

We’ve had a lot of challenges over the past two years, and we’ve learned a lot. Not only have we learned about adoption and the challenges that come with it, we’ve also learned so much more about ourselves. There have been many ups and downs along the way, and everything is out of our hands at this point. We only hope that the process goes smoothly and that we are able to bring our children home soon. We don’t have any new news to share. From what we have heard lately, the approximate wait time can be two years or more. We’ve been registered for almost five months. Waiting is hard, but we know it will be worth it in the end.

Changes to Family Code in Bulgaria

Bulgarian Parliament Adopted New Family Code

Published on June 12, 2009 at 12:30 PM BG
Updated on June 13, 2009 at 5:07 PM BG

The new family code is a fact after Parliament adopted the texts of the new Family code on second reading. An amendment is the introduction of pre-nuptial contracts that regulate which of the spouses will have to pay alimony in case of divorce. The pre-nuptial contracts however do not regulate matters in case of death of one of the spouses. Parliament also adopted changes to the process of adoption. The amendment gives the authorities the right to put a child up for adoption in case biological parents have withheld contact for six months. The biggest disagreements were on the subject of cohabitation. Cohabitation will not have the same legal footing as marriage. Its recognition as the legal equivalent of marriage was backed by one of the ruling coalition partners, but lacked support of other parties.

Making the Adoption Tax Credit Permanent

Making the Adoption Tax Credit Permanent

Adoption Action Alert

April 1, 2009/Martha Osborne

The federal adoption tax credit has helped thousands of families say yes to adopting a child. It's vital that this financial support stay in place to help families offest the costs and fees associated with adopting a child. Unfortunately, the tax credit is set to expire in December 2010 unless Congress votes to continue it. It's time to take action!

The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213, will keep the adoption tax credit from being repealed, and may make the tax relief measure permanent. It only takes a few minutes to e-mail or call your senators and congressmen. It's important for them to hear from families impacted by the tax credit.

Currently, there are 76 State Senator and Representatives cosponsoring H.R. 213. However, there are 16 states that currently have no sponsors of this bill, including eight on the East Coast (one of the largest areas of the US with internationally adopted children). H.R. 213 is currently in committee, where most bills die. It is imperative that adoptive families, and all friends of children waiting for families, act now.

It only takes a few minutes to write, call or e-mail your representatives. Please do so today!

E-mail Representative: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

E-mail Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Currently, the following states have no cosponsors or commitments of support for H.R. 213:

West Virginia

Delaware

Connecticut

Rhode Island

New Hampshire

Vermont

Massachusetts

Maine

Idaho

Oregon

Montana

South Dakota

New Mexico

Arkansas

Hawaii

The two states offering the greatest support are Texas and Georgia with 6 cosponsors each, closely followed by Pennsylvania with 5. Honorable mentions: Florida, Indiana, Illinois each with 4 sponsorships each.

Pass this on to friends and family, and ask for their help in writing, calling, and posting on blogs and Facebook. To gain momentum, we must have an absolute ground swell of families lifting their voices together for the well-being of children throughout the world.