Now with 7 days left before they fly to EE, they received some news about their adoption which led to the following post. Please read and PRAY, and consider helping the Shupps to make Freddie a part of their family! He is 15 years old already, and international adoption law says that after his 16th birthday a family cannot begin the process to adopt him if they don't already have specific papers filed before then. This is his last chance!
Lyndi and Bill Shupp's family profile is available to be viewed at www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorshupp.html and donations are tax deductible. They WILL receive these funds "in time" to use them if donated this way. You can also visit her blog (linked on the header below) to see their other fundraisers you can participate in if you'd like to give in that way.
(From Lyndi's blog)Thank you,
There's been a bit of a Hiccup
A few days ago, I got an email, one I had to sit on and wait for more details, but one that I thought was devastating at first. Well, now that I have details, we are a bit more optimistic, but still in a "panic".
What did we learn?
We learned that our Freddie was not born in the country we are travelling to, but instead, he was born in Russia.
What does that mean?
That means that in addition to attending court in the country he lives in, we will have to have a country lawyer go to Russia after court to obtain his original birth certificate.
How does this affect the adoption?
Other than adding a few steps, it does NOT affect his ability to be adopted! Praise Jesus for this, we were very worried until we got our details!!!
What does this mean financially and to your timeline?
It DOES affect these 2 areas!! The cost of this person to go get his birth certificate is an additional $3,000. It also prolongs our stay by about a week.
What are we doing now?
Well, for now, our plan is to move forward and get Freddie, he has been the child on our hearts for the past 2 years and we feel that with the help of EVERYONE, we can still make this a reality. A friend offered to take Patrick while we travel, this was offered before, but I originally turned it down, but have now accepted, so we now have the money from his plane ticket to help with some of the expenses, but we are still gonna need YOUR help!!!
What am I asking from you?
I am asking EVERYONE to PLEASE PLEASE help us bring him home. I know many of you have already helped, but this is such an unusual situation that I need your help now more than ever. I ask that you each post on your blogs, on your FB, spread it by word of mouth, however you can, please help spread the word!
Does Freddie know you are coming?
We honestly do not know for sure...what we DO know is that the other children from his orphanage have been sent to a summer camp in Italy (this is very common for older children in this country to go to these camps) and he was not sent, since his director knew we were coming. I can only assume that Freddie has figured out why he wasn't sent, instead he is at a local camp. He's been around long enough to figure that one out. So, has anyone flat out told him? Probably not, but I assume he has figured it out on his own.
For fellow adopters, this is NOT the norm, this is HIGHLY unusual and you should not worry about this with your child/ren. So, please do not panic because of what is happening with us and Freddie right now!
Meredith
