As I stated before, we finally completed the last leg of the great paper chase. We had things signed, notarized, validated at the county level, then authenticated by the Secretary of State...and sent it all off to TECO (Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office). They authenticate it all and sign off on it saying it's all set for the court process. It's the last big push on our end and I was thrilled to mail it on Wednesday.
Now when you talk to others or read blogs about Taiwan adoption, you usually hear about roadblocks in AIT (similar to a Taiwan embassy), or bumps in the road during the court process. From what I've read, you don't often have problems at TECO.
Then we came along.
Good ol' Cecilia at TECO happened to receive our package. Someone must have really ticked her off on the way to work because by the time she got to me, she was in quite a mood.
According to her, our documents (9 of the 21) were "validated incorrectly" by one of the counties here. By that she means this. When Montgomery County certifies that a Notary is valid, they attach a little half sheet of paper to the document. They place it over the Notary's seal/signature, and they staple it to the document...twice. One staple on the left, one on the right.
Before sending all of the authenticated documents to TECO, you have to make copies of at least one of each item for the TECO files (4 powers of attorney, make a copy of one of them...3 contracts with the orphanage...copy one of them). Imagine copying a notarized, authenticated document that has a piece of paper stapled to it and since it's stapled on the left and right, you can't fold that paper over. Thus, the signatures and the notary are covered up on the copy.
When making the copies I had a feeling this wasn't right, but I checked with our agency and they agreed that while this was strange (the other counties didn't do it this way) it was okay to complete the copies and send them in.
Cecilia didn't care for this one bit. She also insisted that since I can't read Mandarin, we should have attached an english translation of the contracts (contracts with the orphanage and written in Mandarin) and that translation needed to be signed, notarized and authenticated. She expressed concern that we knew what we had signed.
She then said we needed to make copies of alllll the documents...all 4 powers of attorney, all 3 contracts, etc... I explained that I followed the instructions of the TECO website. She later said that the website was wrong and she'd have to see about changing it. She really got to me when she said "So I'm going to have to stand here and make all of these copies for you and it's going to take a long, long time to process this paperwork."
I asked her to send it back to me and I'd make the copies but she passive-aggressively said she would do it herself. I was upset and she kept insisting our agency doesn't know what they're doing.
She suggested removing the staple and I about had a heart attack. You can't verify a document and authenticate it and then remove staples and re-attach it. That's tampering with it and the Taiwan courts don't like that. It could stop the whole process if she did that!
Redoing these documents, notarizing them, authenticating them, etc....while Andy is in another state would be a nightmare. I pray we don't have to do this.
I hung up and called our agency.
The exec director Laura immediately called Cecilia. From what I understand they had quite a conversation. Cecilia kept saying "what the family SHOULD have done was..." and she argued about how many copies, and the contract in Mandarin. Laura tried to get to her supervisor and discovered he is on vacation.
The topper was that she wants to change the TECO website (regarding the copies) but she stated she can't make a decision about the copies. Laura pushed further and learned Cecilia doesn't even do the authentications. Her boss does! She's an admin person!!!
Of course, Laura has helped over 300 families adopt from Taiwan and NEVER, not one time has something like this happened. Apparently TECO is always a pretty easy part of the process in her experience. Someone should have warned her the Shanahan's always make it interesting.
In the end, Cecilia overnighted all of the papers to our agency. Laura is working on a solution and sounded like maybe she had some trick up her sleeve. I know she has some idea about resolving this and had a call in to her own Sec of State to see if her idea might fix this by working with the county who did this.
This is all because of a document that TECO keeps a copy of in their files. The originals all go to Taiwan! I keep brainstorming ways around it but for now I'm trying to be patient.
What a high we were on Tuesday after our Skype session. A good, wise friend described it tonight as a scene where it's all going perfectly and you get a glimpse, a taste of what it will be like, and you feel closer to K...then Cecilia jumps in front of you and says, whoa, hold on...not just yet. It feels exactly like that.
I am reminding myself that for whatever reason (I may never know why), this delay is happening and it's because God's timing is perfect and I need to trust it. I was JUST reading in my Bible last night and was comforted and reminded of one of my favorite verses.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. Prov 3:5-6
Praying that we get good news tomorrow!
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