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Multinational woes

Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

CRARYVILLE — “I spent 25 years as a social worker...You have to keep hoping, if you don’t you’re useless,” said Ilze Earner, calling from Latvia, a former Soviet republic on the Baltic Sea. She was there enduring a bureaucratic limbo trying to finalize the adoption of her 5-year-old relative, Kristina.

Ilze Earner is a renowned child welfare advocate, who teaches at Hunter College in New York City and specializes in immigrant children’s issues. She was born in a refugee camp in France and later immigrated to the United States.

Ilze Earner, who with her husband Laurence owns a house in Craryville, began their trek to adopt Kristina two years ago.

Kristina had been abandoned by her parents and was living with her grandmother. Kristina’s mother was pregnant at 17 and had emotional and substance abuse issues.

Two years ago Kristina’s grandmother froze to death, leaving Kristina to become a ward of the state. When Ilze and Laurence Earner heard about the girl’s plight they decided to adopt her.

“There were no other relatives there (who) were in a position to take her in,” said Ilze Earner.

The family applied with the Latvian Ministry of Child Welfare to adopt Kristina. They also called the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, the federal agency that oversees international adoptions, to find out what they needed to do.

The couple filled out the required paperwork and submitted to a home study by a social worker, a criminal background check and gathered other documentation.

In January the Earners were approved as adoptive parents in Latvia. But the USCIS told them to file their forms at the American embassy in Latvia.

On May 21, two days before leaving for Latvia, Ilze Earner said she called USCIS one more time to make sure it had everything in order. According to her it never mentioned that the procedure for international adoptions had changed April 1.

“They told me we were good to go.”

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, involving more than 70 countries, established new guidelines for adoption. It took effect for the United States on April 1, 2008.

According to Ilze Earner the regulations between the United States and Latvia were still in the process of being finalized.

The couple made the trip to Latvia with their 10-year old daughter, Maize, and Ilze’s elderly mother. When they arrived in Riga, Latvia’s capitol, and went to the American embassy, they were given the bad news.

“They told us we had to start over...I was speechless,” said Ilze Earner.

The Earners were told they would have to go back to the United States without Kristina. But Ilze Earner would not leave without her.

“We said we are [going to adopt Kristina] so we will. We made the commitment,” she said.

Laurence Earner is back in New York and trying to get help from government officials and others.

“He’s trying to get some attention,” said Ilze Earner. Some finally came after their story appeared in the Los Angeles Times June 15.

“On Monday we got a call from the USCIS,” said Ilze Earner. “They finally admitted they made a mistake.”

She said the agency is taking full responsibility and has begun to expedite the adoption process. But it can still take a lot of time.

The family had budgeted a certain amount of money for the adoption, but as the process drags on that money continues to dwindle.

“After June 24 I don’t have a place to stay,” she said, “As far as plan B I don’t know. I’m living in the moment.”

Kristina is currently living with Ilze Earner as the family continues to wend their way through the system. But Kristina could end up in an orphanage.

“I feel like we have fallen through the bureaucratic cogs,” Ilze Earner said.

She said her daughter Maize keeps giving her “extra hugs.”

“It keeps me going,” sighed Ilze Earner.

As she spoke over the phone, in the background the two girls could be heard playing.

“Kristina is a dream...She is a resilient little girl,” Ilze Earner said.

The family is planning to spend the rest of the summer in Columbia County.

“I can’t wait to go home,” she said.

To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call 518-828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com

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