Should We Start Over?
Sunday, September 16, 2007
I've been pretty upset since Friday so I decided to wait and calm down some before doing any blogging.
We received news from our agency on Friday that our CHI Texas agency rep has resigned. That's 3 people leaving from CHI in the past month. What's going on with their staff? Along with that news we also heard that one of the other regions that we were thinking of switching to would not be accepting any families until next year.
So, here we sit stuck with no accreditation in site. I'm sure the government shake-up from Wednesday is not going to help things along either. We are strongly thinking at this point that we should cut our losses and start looking into other agencies and other possiblities. It will be 2 years next month since we submitted our application to CHI and we don't feel that we have made much progress other than paper shuffling. I have no idea what it will take to switch agencies and how much if any of our paperwork can be re-used. I hate the thought of starting over but I don't know what else to do and I feel like I've waited a little bit longer long enough.
Have any of you switched agencies? Can you tell me what's involved? I'm seeking any and all advice here.
We received news from our agency on Friday that our CHI Texas agency rep has resigned. That's 3 people leaving from CHI in the past month. What's going on with their staff? Along with that news we also heard that one of the other regions that we were thinking of switching to would not be accepting any families until next year.
So, here we sit stuck with no accreditation in site. I'm sure the government shake-up from Wednesday is not going to help things along either. We are strongly thinking at this point that we should cut our losses and start looking into other agencies and other possiblities. It will be 2 years next month since we submitted our application to CHI and we don't feel that we have made much progress other than paper shuffling. I have no idea what it will take to switch agencies and how much if any of our paperwork can be re-used. I hate the thought of starting over but I don't know what else to do and I feel like I've waited a little bit longer long enough.
Have any of you switched agencies? Can you tell me what's involved? I'm seeking any and all advice here.
posted by Dede at 3:13 PM
8 Comments:
We switched last year but it was before we were in too far so I don't have any advice.
But I will be praying for you guys. This is a tough time for Russian adoptions right now.
Hang in there. I can understand your frustration of having to wait. We are with CHI as well and waited 16 months (from dossier submission) and finally received a referral late last month from a different region than we had our dossier registered in (we turned in our application January 2006). I think CHI is looking at the wait times for all families and are letting those who have waited longer to go ahead of others. That is why I really think that they came out with the notice about not telling families where they are in line.
I can also understand the concern about the recent resignations but do believe that CHI is on the "up and up". They have several accreditations within the US and they are not easy to get.
I am not sure what to tell you about switching agencies but I do believe that it will put you waiting further down the line (not to mention more $$ involved). My guess is all new families that want to adopt are signing with the agencies that have been accredited so that they will be overwhelmed.
I am not to much farther along than you are as far as the waiting process. We have had our referral for almost a month now and are STILL waiting on travel dates. However, if you want somewhere to vent or if you think there is anything I can answer, please feel free to email me.
I hope you can find some peace in your waiting and decision.
JennyM
jmartin7100@mac.com
blog: web.mac.com/jmartin7100
I can't imagine the frustration you all are feeling. We haven't been waiting near as long as you all (we submitted our application to CHI almost 13 months ago), and the wait is getting tough so I imagine it is so much harder for you all.
Good luck as you make decisions concerning the future.
I wish I had some wonderful words of wisdom for you! Do you have any idea why your rep left? I just don't understand what is going on, but it's becoming unsettling. I hope you are able to work things out for the best - it's definitely your turn to be traveling to Russia!
Dede,
I have no great advice or words of wisdom, but I feel for you. All I can say is email Lauren. She has helped several people switch agencies to our agency, whom from what I know so far is amazing! Her email is bpvllc@aol.com. Tell her I gave you her email address. If you don't go with our agency, at least she can give you some advice from helping others switch.
Good luck and hugs to you!!
We were thinking the same thing as you this past weekend with the news in Russia and with our TX rep leaving. We were considering switching to Ethiopia since we felt like every door was being shut on us for a Russian adoption. We have not been waiting as long on the adoption front as you have but prior to this we tried to get pregnant for 6.5 years so I understand how you feel about the waiting and wondering when it is going to be your turn. Hang in there and if you need an ear to vent to drop me a line at staylor602@hotmail.com and I promise to listen.
After much prayer and research, we recently switched from CHI to another agency. We have not been waiting nearly as long as you. We signed up with CHI at the end of last November, but we were starting to feel uneasy about the whole situation and they continued to back up our predicted wait for a referral. Long story short, we got our dossier back (a totally different amazing story) so we are hoping that we can still use some of the documents that are in it. We lost about 4,000 dollars in the switch, but after alot of hassle CHI agreed to send us a check for 1200.00 which was our deposit money for post placements. We tried to work out an agreement with them so that we could use our homestudy (which was done by CHI), but they refused everything we and the other agency tried to offer. However, after much persistence, we did get them to switch all of the originals for the homestudy (police clearances, etc.) over to our new agency which means it should take just a couple of weeks to get our homestudy redone with the new agency. It is definitely a gamble, but we are hoping it pays off in the end. They are telling us a much shorter wait time for a referral so hopefully we have made the right decision. Good luck, and please know you are not alone in your frustration!
Okay, I have to chime in here because I'm feeling very similar to you. It kills me to say this because we loved CHI during our first two adoptions, but this 3rd adoption has been a nightmare. I realize that a lot of it has been out of their hands (such as accreditation issues, etc.), but I've been so disappointed with the way they've handled some aspects that were completely in their control. Because Sue Ellison decoded to pick and choose which families should go to the head of the line, we were pushed back several months to the point where all of our dossier is now expiring. If Sue had not been fired, I can honestly say that we would be looking for a new agency. I do feel that Yuriy is doing a great job and trying his best to help all of their families. But I hate that it got to the point where I get a little sick to my stomach everytime I see CHI on the caller i.d.
We used to be one of the biggest reference families CHI had. Now I just want to apologize to all of the families that we encouraged to use the agency.
I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide.
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