Praise God!

Sorry this has taken a while...but we just got in from a very busy day of court. The judge truly gave us everything we asked for, until we hit a little snag....adoptibility. The PGN attorney would not give on doing an investigation into the birthmother's whereabouts. The judge wanted to declare her adoptable, send her case to the Central Authority, allow us to foster her in Guatemala, and begin the adoption process now with the Central Authority's approval. That was not to be.

This is what she was able to do: First of all, we have custody of Cintia. We have been given permission to bring her back to the US for medical treatment. We are to return with her on August 10, 2010 for her final abandonment hearing. Unless the birth family shows up, we will have the certificate of adoptibility and our case will be presented to the Central Authority. They should after all of the time we have had Cintia (at that point it will have been 2 and a half years) should not want to disrupt her life and would allow us to be matched with Cintia. At that point, the adoption will begin. Right now, it cannot because she is still unadoptable in the eyes of the law. This is probably a technicality and we expect to be granted adoptibility on Aug. 10, 2010.

We will have to move to Guatemala with Cintia for the adoption to start. Next Aug., the Hayman family will move to Guatemala. The good news is that we have plenty of time to prepare. It will also be for a more definite time period. The adoption will still take (once we are registered in Aug. or Sept.) at least 6 months.

We are praising God for what He has done for us and Cintia. Today was the hardest day that I can remember. I sat there and cried just like Lela (Cintia's foster mother) did at the last hearing. Queitly, the tears streamed. I tried so hard to hold them in but they simply would not stop. I cried tears of fear...then tears of joy knowing my baby girl was safe and sound in my arms and would remain there.

By the way, the social worker was in total support of all petitions and shook her head yes and smiled as the judge read her resolution. When the PGN attorney chimed in with her problem with adoptibility, the social work shook her head no and frowned. Our judge did all that she could....even my attorney thinks highly of her now. She had every intention when we walked into court to give Cintia her chance at happiness. She did....it may take longer than any of us anticipated...but we are still together as a family. The kids can finish school this year. We can plan for the move......under one condition.....we need a visa!

We are working hard to get everything together for her visa application. We must call in some favors and prepare some documents but prayerfully, we can do it quickly. Pray for mercy at the embassy!

Words cannot express our gratitude for all your prayers and support!

Blessed beyond measure,
April