Sad News :*(

On Wednesday last week we were informed that we were not eligible to adopt Eileen. This is very frustrating and sad, since we have worked so hard to get out paperwork finished to submit to USCIS and SDA in Ukraine. We literally had one document left to apply for - the USCIS immigration approval. Then we could have submitted our dossier for translation and SDA approval. We had every other piece of paper either in hand or in process (i.e. Indiana State Police clearance and FBI checks that are down in Indianapolis right now). It has torn our hearts out to have to walk away from this little girl. If it weren't for our amazing friends who have checked up on us and coaxed us from our house over the weekend, we'd still be hiding out and crying.

Eileen's room is now "the spare room". Eileen's stuff is now earmarked for various relatives, since we're not really sure what to do with it all. Eileen's sweet little picture is still stuck to the front of my 3" thick binder of adoption paperwork, though. We would sort our documents and pat her picture on the head some nights, pretending she'd know how hard we'd been working. I can't bring myself to put that picture in the trash just yet.

We have parted ways with the adoption ministry we found Eileen through. We hope to find an alternative agency after we take a break and do some more research. We have appreciated everyone's support and look forward to sharing non-adoption family updates until we figure out what the next step will be.