Extra, Extra Read All About It

We are making the news in some arenas.

On Monday we received a copy of a Taraz newspaper article in which our first judge was interviewed about the denials and the Kazakh adoption process. Our lawyer is reviewing the article and will advise us on the legal issues related to the article. We (the families) thought some of the comments were inappropriate considering our cases are unresolved. The article was in Russian so I will not post it.

Today, The Philadelphia Enquirer published an article about the "Philly Family"

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20100729_Cooling_climate_for_foreign_adoptions_leaves_Haverford_couple_in_limbo.html

Currently, Randy and I are assessing if we should seek media attention regarding Ty and Maxx. There are a lot of issues to consider before taking our story to the public.

Today, we learned the Cessation Court has requested our documents from the Appeals Court. That means we are getting closer to our next hearing.

Marcia

Phone Conference

Hi All,

We just finished a 90 minute teleconference with various Dept of State Representatives.

Let's just say there was a lot of emotion, agreement on key items and disagreement on key items. There were 6 family members and 4 to 5 US officials on the line - so a lot of voices to be heard.

One of the few concrete items, we can share is the first judge who denied us will be visiting the US next week (on the US taxpayer dollar which got the group riled up). US Officials will try to set up a meeting with him to assess the situation and propose possible solutions.

We will be contacted after that meeting.

In the meantime, we follow our current appeal process.

I think this was consistent with my and Randy's expectations for the meeting. We knew nothing would be immediately resolved but hopefully a new avenue of communication would open up.

Take care,

Marcia

Ramblings from our Canine Contingent

Happy Monday,

I thought I'd turn the keyboard over to Ace who has a few opinions on our plight. So here's Ace:

Hi Humans,

I am Ace "Everyone's Favorite Dog". I have some other not-so-nice nicknames but I try really hard to be a good dog.

A few years ago, Marcia and Randy told me they were going to find a child for me to play with. I thought that was cool as I really like little kids - especially how they give me treats for doing absolutely nothing. I also like how they will play endless games of fetch with me.

In December, Marcia & Randy went away to meet Ty and Maxx. Can you imagine how I felt when I learned Marcia took as many pictures of them as she does of me? Who are these boys? Are they as cute as I am? How come they have a blog & I don't? How come today is the first time my picture has been posted here?

Well, it have been almost 4 dog years since I have heard of Ty & Maxx and I want them here. I have worked really hard for them. I was nice to the crabby social worker in Switzerland. The US social worker was easier to win over. I was a good boy when Grandma took care of me when Marcia & Randy went away. Most of all, I give Marcia and Randy lots of doggy kisses when they are sad or angry when things go wrong. Trust me I have been working hard here.

Perhaps I need to go to KZ and give the court a piece of my mind or plot my doggy revenge. I know how to fly in an airplane and if I am fed the right food combinations I could make my own stinkbomb and the court would really know how angry I am. I don't think dog gas is a crime under the rules of the Geneva convention.

Your doggy friend,

Aceyboy

Marcia here

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Ace. Tomorrow is our conference call with the Dept of State. I'll post a more serious entry tomorrow but some days you just need to joke about dog gas.

Response from Jacobs

Yesterday, I got a direct response from Susan Jacobs. Between our e-mail and more from the other family, she suggested a teleconference early next week with her staffers and the families involved.

Marcia

Heartless

Today we learned that 2 more families had their petitions denied in Taraz. That means there is one family who is awaiting a decision and that is their initial decision.

The judge heartlessly told the families perhaps they need to start their adoptions all over. This is clearly unacceptable as KZ still hasn't established what their adoption laws will be under the Hague Convention and when the new process will begin. I hate to think how long the process would be.

Yesterday, Randy and I sent a letter to Susan Jacobs at the US Department of State. She is a high-level policy advisor who deals with children's issues and she reports directly to Hillary Clinton. Another family contacted her and received a heartless response when their message was sent down to a staffer. He downplayed the Kazakh treatment of them as nationals of other countries (Canada & Germany) have been treated as poorly. So I guess the State Department doesn't care if Americans get mistreated if other G8 members are also.

We are continuing to work with our lawyer and the other families to get these children home. We still believe we will have better luck when we get our case moved to the federal courts. Unfortunately, we have to endure one more appeal in Taraz.

Thank you to all of you who joined "Save the Taraz Ten". The group now exceeds 1000 people. Early on, we pointed out to the Dept of State that there are a lot of people following the plight of these children and will act on their behalf.

Marcia

Scavenger Hunt

We are been hearing rumors of Kazakh adoptions being denied in other regions of Kazakhstan. If you know anyone in this scenario or find any blogs to that effect, please let me know via e-mail:

newtonmarcia@yahoo.com

Our lawyer is having a meeting with the court tomorrow to discuss some corrections to the transcripts from the last hearing. He's hoping we will have a hearing in early August.

Marcia

Bathing Beauties

We got back from vacation today and we received bathing photos of the boys. The kids went outside in their underwear and then got a spongebath. It looks like all the kids had fun. Maxx still has a little bit of a gut and Ty is super skinny. The boys should thank me for posting only their modest photos.

Taraz Ten

Thank you to everyone who looked for Susan Jacob's contact information. A friend of a friend found it.

If you want something fun to do, we created a Facebook cause to accumulate a list of supporters for all the "Taraz Ten". The link is:

http://www.causes.com/causes/503597?recruiter_id=82923673

There are some stories of successful Taraz adoptions which is our goal.

Marcia

Suddenly Seeking Susan

not the movie that launched Madonna's film career.

Secretary of State Clinton has appointed Susan Jacobs as the US Advisor on Children's issues. Several of us are trying to find direct contact information for Ms. Jacobs.

If anyone can help us, please let me know.

Thanks and have a good weekend.

Marcia

Misery Loves Company

Not really.

Today 4 families had hearings in Taraz and all 4 were rejected. The judge pointed out the problem is not with the adoptive families but with the Babyhouse and how the children were made available for adoption.

Unbelievable.

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day to our Canadian friends. There are 4 wanna-be Canadian children in Taraz who we are thinking of and hoping they will be home soon.

Randy and I are planning a not-so-quiet weekend around home. Somehow we acquired a large bag of fireworks that will probably be displayed this weekend.

Have a happy holiday,

Marcia