Adoption troubles

ROGERS -- Teri McClain, a world away without much outside communication, has spent most of the last four weeks with her new child in Hanoi, Vietnam, sitting, waiting and hoping for a breakthrough.

One wrong answer last month caused her and three other families with newly adopted children to hold desperately onto hope their new children will be awarded visas and the opportunity to start a new life in America.

What was called a "mix up" by Ventures For Children International President Marvin Harlan, a Fayetteville group helping families nationwide adopt children overseas, has the McClain family pointing fingers. McClain and three other mothers adopting children from Vinh, Vietnam, on Oct. 15 were asked by the U.S. Consulate when they first heard their children were available for adoption.

McClain, an art teacher at Grace Hill Elementary School in Rogers, and the mothers gave the wrong answer, Harlan said.

Instead of referring to a legal referral date, the mothers told of earlier dates when Ventures for Children alerted the four couples of children being available in for adoption.

Read the full article.


Teri's blog