Rogers Woman Stuck In Vietnam With Adopted Child

Rogers Woman Stuck In Vietnam With Adopted Child

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.

As a result, McClain, the three mothers and four former orphans have moved from hotel to hotel awaiting word from the U.S. Embassy they are free to return to the United States with their children.

But every waning day is wearing on McClain, her new daughter Kate and a husband at home in Rogers.

"The feeling is desperation," Teri McClain said in a phone interview from Hanoi early Saturday morning. "We're at the mercy of someone who doesn't care and has no authority to keep us here ... We're scared. There's no checks and balances here."

McClain said the consulate told the families they are not under investigation, but their children had not been given visas. The earliest they could be told of a decision is Tuesday, McClain said.

The Vietnamese government was asked for clarification three times by the consulate, McClain said.

"From what we can tell in translation, the Vietnamese government is telling (the consulate) to give our children the visas," McClain said of one letter to the consulate. "I don't understand why we're still here."

All went well until the interview for the visas at the consulate, Harlan said. The couples were asked when they first heard a child was available but were not asked for the referral date. That date is when Ventures For Children International lawfully referred the children to the new prospective parents, Harlan said.

Harlan said he believed the consulate was wrong in phrasing their questions vaguely and not asking for the actual referral date.

Vietnam closed intercountry adoptions in 2003 because of irregularities in the process and underground child rings, but opened in 2005, said Thomas J DiFilipo, president of the Joint Council On International Children's Services.

"Since that time, both the U.S. and Vietnamese governments have been watching the adoption process very closely," DiFilipo said. "I'm sure that's what is happening here."

The three other families who traveled with Ventures for Children to Hanoi refused to be identified and interviewed Saturday out of fear of losing their newly adopted children, Teri McClain said.

Teri's husband, Fred McClain, and their adopted 5-year-old daughter from Guatemala, Lauren, flew to Vietnam on Oct. 13. On Oct. 17, the McClains added a fourth member to their family during a giving and receiving ceremony at an orphanage in Vinh, Vietnam.

Then the problems, after two interview sessions with the U.S. consulate, began. Fred and Lauren McClain caught a plane back to the states Nov. 3. Fred McClain, disabled from rheumatoid arthritis, could not refill pain medicine prescriptions in Hanoi. Lauren was missing too many school days and needed to come back, Terri McClain said.

"Ventures for Children flew us over there and pretty much abandoned us in Vietnam with nothing," Fred McClain said. "They didn't prepare us for the interviews at all."

Fred and Teri McClain gave $20,000 for Ventures For Children International to handle paperwork and secure the adoption. Teri McClain has spent an additional $7,000 in airfare, hotel and food expenses as the mothers have moved to at least five hotels. On Friday, Teri's visa expired and had to be renewed for 30 days.

Fred McClain contacted the offices of Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and 3rd Disrict Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, seeking help. Lincoln's office confirmed Friday the McClains contacted their office, but no headway had been made with the consulate in Vietnam, said Katie Laning, Lincoln's press secretary.

Calls to Boozman office were not returned Friday nor were calls to the U.S. Department of State which oversees America's embassies and consulates.

Ventures For Children International is confident the children would get their visas this week, Harlan said. The company has successfully processed more than 250 adoptions through Vietnam without a hiccup, Harlan said.

"I hope my wife and Kate come home so we can forget Ventures For Children even exists," Fred McClain said. "I'm holding them responsible if anything happens to my wife or child."

The couple, however, know there is a chance they'll have to leave their new daughter, Kate, behind in Vietnam.

"We no longer trust what they say," Teri said. "They tell us, 'Yeah, you'll get your babies' visas next week,' but we have no stock in that. It could happen. We hope it happens. But we can't even guess."

Web Watch:

Terri McClain's blog

http://reflectingthelightofthemoon.blogspot.com

Time Line

McClain Adoption

* October 2006: Family signs with Ventures For Children International to find child

* December 2006: Family finishes adoption dossier

* January 2007: Dossier sent to Ventures for Children International with fees

* July 2007: McClains receive child referral from Ventures For Children International

* August 2007:McClains told giving and receiving ceremony in Vinh, Vietnam, pushed back

* Oct. 13: McClains arrive in Hanoi, Vietnam

* Oct. 17: McClains participate in giving and receiving ceremony at orphanage in Vinh, Vietnam

* Oct. 18: Paperwork filed at U.S. Embassy

* Oct. 19: Application for baby Kate's passport filed

* Oct. 23: McClain family's interview with U.S. Consulate

* Oct. 26: Passport for Kate is approved

* Nov. 3: Fred and Lauren McClain depart Vietnam for Rogers

* Nov. 9: Teri McClain awaits word if Kate will receive visa; Teri McClain's visa expires, renewed for 30 days.

Source: Staff Report