Dear Family and Friends,
It is with great joy that we announce the referral of our son, Dylan Mai An Bergmann. We received the call on Wednesday, February 13th, and laid eyes on his precious face for the first time. Dylan was born on November 23, 2007 and is currently being cared for in an orphanage in Vinh Long, Vietnam (near the southern coast). We hope to travel to bring him home in approximately 5 months. Our agency informed us that after the Department of International Adoption (DIA) in Vietnam receives our formal acceptance of the referral, it will take them approximately 10 to 12 weeks to make Dylan "paper ready" for adoption, and another 60 days for US Immigration Services to approve his Visa to enter the United States. After those steps are completed, we will receive notice to travel. Our in-country stay will likely be 2 weeks.
Many of you were not aware that we had even applied to Vietnam. We started exploring the option in the spring of 2007, but we were told that we could not file for a second child while waiting for our China adoption to be completed. As you know, we filed for our second daughter from China back in February 2007, but soon learned that it would likely be 3 to 4 years before we received a referral. We were disappointed with the idea of waiting it out, but we certainly did not want to take any steps that may jeopardize our China adoption. So, time passed and we tucked away the idea of starting a third adoption. Near the end of October 2007, the thought came back full force. We continued to hear news about the long wait for China, and the desire to add another child to our family (sooner rather than later) was too strong to ignore. We prayed, cried, and agonized over the decision to move forward....still thinking that we'd be forced to withdraw our dossier from China. We stepped out in faith and began our paperchase to Vietnam on October 19, 2007.
Just twelve days later, the China Center of Adoption Affairs officially posted approval of concurrent adoptions...praise be to God! We were on our way to Vietnam and would also maintain our place "in line" for our daughter in China. We were now more confident than ever about moving forward. But not even a week later, we were informed by our agency of some potential concerns with the renewal of the current agreement between Vietnam and the US regarding international adoptions. We were cautioned to reconsider our decision to continue, and with very heavy hearts decided to sit on our dossier. We intended to take the "wait and see" approach, but after doing some research and poking around a bit...and feeling God's hand leading us on...we switched agencies and moved forward full speed ahead!
We ask for your prayers as the next several months pass...that Dylan will be happy, healthy, and well cared for in Vietnam, and that our travel approval will come swiftly, without delay or complication. There is no denying that problems still remain with the current arrangement between the US and Vietnam. Pray that necessary improvements will be made. There are so many precious children needing a family. We will be counting the days to that sweet union with our son!
With Love & Gratitude,
Paul, Heather, Ryleigh & Dylan
It is with great joy that we announce the referral of our son, Dylan Mai An Bergmann. We received the call on Wednesday, February 13th, and laid eyes on his precious face for the first time. Dylan was born on November 23, 2007 and is currently being cared for in an orphanage in Vinh Long, Vietnam (near the southern coast). We hope to travel to bring him home in approximately 5 months. Our agency informed us that after the Department of International Adoption (DIA) in Vietnam receives our formal acceptance of the referral, it will take them approximately 10 to 12 weeks to make Dylan "paper ready" for adoption, and another 60 days for US Immigration Services to approve his Visa to enter the United States. After those steps are completed, we will receive notice to travel. Our in-country stay will likely be 2 weeks.
Many of you were not aware that we had even applied to Vietnam. We started exploring the option in the spring of 2007, but we were told that we could not file for a second child while waiting for our China adoption to be completed. As you know, we filed for our second daughter from China back in February 2007, but soon learned that it would likely be 3 to 4 years before we received a referral. We were disappointed with the idea of waiting it out, but we certainly did not want to take any steps that may jeopardize our China adoption. So, time passed and we tucked away the idea of starting a third adoption. Near the end of October 2007, the thought came back full force. We continued to hear news about the long wait for China, and the desire to add another child to our family (sooner rather than later) was too strong to ignore. We prayed, cried, and agonized over the decision to move forward....still thinking that we'd be forced to withdraw our dossier from China. We stepped out in faith and began our paperchase to Vietnam on October 19, 2007.
Just twelve days later, the China Center of Adoption Affairs officially posted approval of concurrent adoptions...praise be to God! We were on our way to Vietnam and would also maintain our place "in line" for our daughter in China. We were now more confident than ever about moving forward. But not even a week later, we were informed by our agency of some potential concerns with the renewal of the current agreement between Vietnam and the US regarding international adoptions. We were cautioned to reconsider our decision to continue, and with very heavy hearts decided to sit on our dossier. We intended to take the "wait and see" approach, but after doing some research and poking around a bit...and feeling God's hand leading us on...we switched agencies and moved forward full speed ahead!
We ask for your prayers as the next several months pass...that Dylan will be happy, healthy, and well cared for in Vietnam, and that our travel approval will come swiftly, without delay or complication. There is no denying that problems still remain with the current arrangement between the US and Vietnam. Pray that necessary improvements will be made. There are so many precious children needing a family. We will be counting the days to that sweet union with our son!
With Love & Gratitude,
Paul, Heather, Ryleigh & Dylan
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