Ticked...

I'm not very happy with our adoption agency.  Have I mentioned that?  Since our dossier went to China on June 14th, I've been trying to get information about our log-in date.  I knew that our dossier had to be translated before it could be logged in, but in the past, this is a step that's taken anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.  I assumed this would be the case with this adoption.

Since getting word that our dossier had arrived, I have emailed our agency every 2-4 weeks asking whether they had received our log-in date.  The first three times I received a response that they didn't yet know, but hoped to know soon.  After that, they quit responding to me.  I've emailed them a couple of times each month and have gotten nowhere.  Finally, on Wednesday, I called and left a voicemail asking what was going on.  I had visions of them closing their doors and absconding with their clients' money or something, and was really starting to get freaked out.  When no return call came on Wednesday or Thursday, I sent an email to the woman who had helped us during the dossier prep stage, asking if she knew why I was being ignored.

She replied early the next morning and apologized profusely for her partner.  I appreciated that.  I also appreciated that she had contacted the facilitator in China to find out what our log-in date was.  However, I was devastated to learn that our dossier wasn't logged in for almost two full months - not until August 9th.  She had no explanation, but said how sorry she was for the delay.

I blasted back an email saying how heartsick we are over this, and how angry we are that no one bothered to tell us as things were happening that there was a delay of some kind.  Had we known upfront, we could have prepared mentally for it.  As it is now, we were thinking our letter of acceptance should be arriving any day, given that we were close to our 3-month wait mark.  Many other families whose dossiers went to China when ours did have been getting their LOAs.  Instead, we learned that our wait has only just begun.

I am beyond disappointed.  This essentially eliminates any chance of traveling before the end of the year, and means Thalia will spend another Christmas and another birthday (January) alone.  It also means we miss the opportunity to deduct our adoption expenses on our 2012 taxes.  I'm so, so sad that we'll be apart even longer, and so angry that they couldn't be bothered to keep us abreast of what was going on.  I practically had to beg for the information I got.

I'm trying to believe that this happened for a reason, but it's difficult for me right now.  I need to get over my angry feelings and focus on the positive things in my life, but I feel so betrayed.  Two months is an eternity when you're a kid in an orphanage.