We visited our baby at Eagle's Nest Children's home for four days. Without our knowledge, our baby's case exited PGN with approval the day before we arrived at the Hogar. We were in constant communication with both the social worker as well as three of the Boggs children at Special Delivery in the US. Not one of them divulged the PGN out to us. Despite our repeated pleas to stay and foster, we were denied our parental rights. Special Delivery left us with no choice, but to fly home without our baby. Special Delivery with held the information that our baby's case had been approved by PGN for a full 5 weeks. In addition, when we were finally granted custody of the baby, we were informed that because we didn't follow SD's standard procedure, - obtaining custody after receiveing PINK, that we would loose all escort services to/from the embassy doctor, to/from visa appointment and picking up the visa the next day. We were notified of the decline in services via e-mail 35 minutes before the embassy doctor's appointment. We were told about the appoinment, but no address was provided. We called our tour guide from our previous visit and he gave us the address of the embassy doctor and suggested that we hire a taxi, which we did. We hired our tour guide to bring us to the embassy appointment as well as pick up the visa the following day. The entire experence was disappointing. It was suppose to be a joyous, wonderful, happy time, but Special Delivery let us down in a country where we didn't even speak the language. While we were on our visit trip to Eagle's Nest Children's Home, we observed broken cribs, propped bottles for all the babies, over crowding (more than one baby per crib) and a preschool child eating what appeared to be vomit off the floor. There were no documented monthly doctor examinations by a certified physician. Our baby arrived home requiring two surgeries and months of doctor's appointments, hearing tests and medication to correct severe ear inflammation and failed hearing tests. The surgeon reported that she had never operated on such inflammed ears. The surgeon attributed the ear inflammation to propped bottles and repeated undocumented ear infections while at the children's home.
I cannot recommend that anyone work with Special Delivery International (SDI). I found them to be unprofessional, unkind and disrespectful both to my family and to many others SDI families that I had contact with. We were lied to on numerous occasions by them and also by the directors of EN, the children's home they work with. I also think there may be some confusion by some who believe the children's home directors are separate from SDI. Please note they are in fact also listed as employees of SDI. Many families, including my own, constantly lived or live in fear of what SDI or EN might do while in process, just for asking a legitimate and absolutely reasonable question. They often seem to use this fear or guilt to keep families from asking for information, and if that doesn't work, they have used intimidation and threats of withholding your children to get what they want. Please research them and also EN very carefully before making a decision to work with them. If you do, you might find many more questions than answers. (i.e. why EN still isn't 501c3 despite the website saying they applied in 2006, why there are so many new building projects even while claiming there's no money for formula, why SDI doesn't currently appear to have a Social Worker on staff, etc.). Whatever agency you eventually choose, do yourself a favor and document EVERYTHING they say. I recommend you request they put it in writing if it was verbal. If they won't, e-mail your notes on the conversation back to them for confirmation and documentation. SDI in particular will say whatever is convenient for the moment, but they do not stand by their word at all, sometimes even if it was documented.
Since it has been mentioned here on this site before, I will also note that as of the June 16th update, they were still not Hague Accredited, despite being on lists of the first ones with intentions to apply. I also wonder why when Ginger responded on this site at one point, she did so by giving them a score, instead of only making a comment.
We enjoyed a very good relationship with Special Delivery during our adoption process. We had a bump in the road when we lost our first referal when the birth mother literally snatched her back. SD worked with us to explain what happened, listened to our concerns and when the next little girl became available for adoption, they made sure that we could use Pedro as our lawyer. We took the referal the first week of December, spent five days at EN in Feb. and brought our 3 year old daughter home in May. We spent a lot of time researching and understanding the Guatemalan adoption process and a lot of time talking with SD here at home and Claire while at EN. Eagle's Nest is a wonderful place for the children. They were always willing to answer our questions no matter how busy they were. The children are well loved and cared for at EN. Our daughter still talks about the mama's that cared for her there. It is very obvious that the children come first, even with the crowded conditions for the little babies we saw first hand that they were well fed and always clean. The older kids are hugged, played with, well fed and very happy - even those whose lives before EN were tragic seemed to be at peace at EN. EN's mission is to save the children and find them loving homes, not to be a money-making proposition. They didn't turn away the children who had difficult cases and would be with them awhile and require long term care. They took them in and loved them. Having gotten to know the staff at SD very well, we realize they had a tough job with some cases and did the best they could to explain things to prospective parents who didn't realize how different the culture in Guatemala was from the U.S. (that was us until we spent a lot of time on fourms, etc and understood better was was happening in the adoption world down there). We also knew that the communications between SD and Eagle's Nest would be good because of their relationship. The monthly pictures- lots of them -were greatly appreciated. I would recommend SD and we would surely use them again if adoptions open up again in the near future.
I would question ANY agency that does not respond to a potential donator. I contacted SD and EN on more than one occasion to sponsor one of the children they have that cannot be adopted. I have NEVER received a reply. I assume the reason no one ever replied to me is that my name is stereotypically not Christian, and therefore I cannot adopt from this agency (I was inquiring to SPONSOR, not to adopt, a child that supposedly needed a sponsor). I find it especially disappointing that a "Christian" agency would act so un-Christianlike.
I wanted to follow-up on a comment from Ginger. We worked with Special Delivery directly and never heard from them. I e-mailed pictures to our consultant about a month after we were home and did not get a reply.
I am going to reply in CAPS, since I can't do it in bold, so please don't think I'm shouting!
1. What are the legal ramifications (if any) associated with providing tax credits to financial sponsors of these (waiting) children through an intermediary charity organization given that Special Delivery nor the hogar are listed as legal charities for US citizens? ALTHOUGH SPECIAL DELIVERY AND EAGLE'S NEST ARE "RELATED" BY WAY OF FAMILY, SPECIAL DELIVERY DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH GETTING THE "FUNDING" OR TAX CREDITS FOR EAGLE'S NEST. THAT IS COMPLETELY AN EAGLE'S NEST DEAL. WHEN PEOPLE SEND THEIR $$ FOR EAGLE'S NEST AND IT COMES TO THE OFFICE, THE ONLY THING THAT I HAVE DONE IS MAKE A NOTE OF IT, SEND A THANK YOU AND THEN SEND THE CHECKS TO THE CLEARINGHOUSE TO BE DEPOSITED IN THE ACCOUNT FOR EAGLE'S NEST. EAGLE'S NEST IS IN THE PROCESS OF BECOMING 501C-3 BUT IS NOT THERE YET, FOR THAT REASON WE ARE USING THAT OTHER PLACE. I ONLY KNOW THE NAME OF THE MAN THAT IS DOING THAT. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT IT, PLEASE CONTACT THEM OR EAGLE'S NEST. SDI DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT.
2. Why is a family still waiting for paperwork from SD to complete their adoption? WHAT SORT OF PAPERWORK ARE YOU MISSING FROM US? SINCE I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, I CAN'T HELP MAKE SURE YOU DO HAVE YOUR FINAL PAPERWORK.
3. Why aren't families contacted by SD after arriving home with their children? WE DO CONTACT THEM UNLESS YOU ARE WITH ANOTHER AGENCY. IF YOU ARE WITH ANOTHER AGENCY WE HAVE A SPECIFIC CONTRACT THAT WE CANNOT CONTACT THEIR FAMILIES DIRECTLY SO WE HAVE TO RELY ON THE SOCIAL WORKER TO DO THAT. OUR SOCIAL WORKER AND CONSULTANTS ARE SUPPOSED TO CONTACT FAMILIES WHEN THEY GET BACK TO MAKE SURE ALL IS GOING WELL.
4. Why are there no consistent legal updates from attorneys? DEPENDING ON THE ATTY. IF YOU HAD IVAN, SAUL OR LAURA, THEY ARE NOT VERY RELIABLE WITH UPDATES OR EVEN ACCURATE UPDATES. WE HAVE BEEN VERY FRUSTRATED WITH THEM SINCE IT MADE US LOOK LIKE LIARS WHEN WE WOULD TELL OUR FAMILIES WHAT WAS GOING ON AND THEN BY THE NEXT UPDATE IT WOULD NOT BE TRUE.
5. Why does/did SD work with inexperienced attorneys? WELL, THERE WERE A FEW ATTY'S THAT APPROACHED US, THEY HAD GIRLS, AND AS YOU MIGHT KNOW, WE HAD A HUGE LIST OF FAMILIES WAITING TO ADOPT GIRLS. WE WORKED WITH IVAN IN THE PAST AND HE IS GOOD, BUT EXTREMELY SLOW AND WOULD OFTEN LIE, BUT HIS CASES DID GET DONE. (I THINK THAT HE HAD TOO MANY OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES TO MAKE ADOPTIONS A PRIORITY) LAURA CAME RECOMMENDED TO US BY A FRIEND AND SAUL WAS THE PASTOR/ATTY OF ANOTHER MISSIONARY COUPLE THAT NEEDED HELP AND DIDN'T KNOW AT ALL WHAT HE WAS DOING. PEDRO IS OUR MAIN, ATTY AND IS VERY EXPERIENCED AND UP TO DATE. WE HAVE WORKED WITH HIM FOR 15 YEARS. ALL OF THIS IS TRIAL AND ERROR, WE ENDED UP MAKING MISTAKES, BUT THEN WE ARE HUMAN. WE DO REGRET THOSE MISTAKES AND HOPE THAT OUR FAMILIES IN THE FUTURE WILL NOT HAVE TO DEPEND ON LAZY ATTYS WHEN ALL THESE HAGUE REQUIREMENTS ARE IMPLEMENTED.
6. Why are the children never examined montly by a licensed physician? THAT WAS NEVER REQUIRED BEFORE THE HAGUE. DR XURUC CAME UP AND HE DID EXAMINE THE KIDS, I DON'T KNOW IF HE ONLY SEES THE SICK ONES OR WHAT. HE WOULD COME UP MONTHLY AND DO THE VACCINATIONS, BUT WE WOULD NEVER GET ANY MEDICAL LETTERS INDICATING THAT CHILDREN WERE SEEN UNLESS THERE WERE MORE SERIOUS ISSUES. I GUESS I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT FAMILIES WERE WANTING/NEEDING TO HAVE A MEDICAL REPORT OTHER THAN THE HEALTH REPORT EVERY MONTH, THIS WAS NEVER ASKED FOR US TO DO NOR WAS IT REQUIRED.
7. Why is there more than one baby per crib? THE ONLY TIME THERE IS MORE THAN ONE BABY IN A CRIB IS WHEN THEY ARE TEENY AND NOT ROLLING OVER YET. ONCE THEY ARE A LITTLE BIGGER THEY ARE MOVED TO BEDS BY THEMSELVES. HONESTLY, ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH EAGLE'S NEST AND QUESTIONS ABOUT CARE ETC, SHOULD BE ASKED TO CLAIRE DIRECTLY. SHE WILL ANSWER THEM. JUST REMEMBER THAT THE HOME IS A GOOD HOME, WE HAVE OVER 4500 SQ FT AND AT ONE TIME WE HAD OVER 80 CHILDREN, NOT ENOUGH BEDS AT TIMES SO THAT WAS WHY THEY SHARED.
8. Why are bottles propped? Why are the babies not held during bottle feedings? AGAIN, 80 BABIES, 20 WORKERS AT ONE GIVEN SHIFT AND THEY ARE ALL HUNGRY AT THE SAME TIME SINCE THEY ARE ON A SCHEDULE, YOU CAN'T HOLD THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME AND FEE THEM. THEY ARE HELD WHEN THEY CAN THOUGH FOR FEEDINGS.
9. Why are some cribs broken? Missing slats, etc? i'LL HAVE TO REDIRECT THAT QUESITON AGAIN TO EAGLE'S NEST. I AM NOT THERE, SO I DON'T SEE THE PROBLEMS OR THE THINGS THAT ARE BROKEN.
10. Why would SD deny clients escort services to the embassy? WE DON'T DENY THEM, BUT WE DO TELL THEM THAT THEY HAVE TO MAKE THEIR OWN ARRANGEMENTS IF THEY TRAVEL PRIOR TO PINK. THE EMBASSY EVEN TELLS FAMILIES THAT. WHEN FAMILIES TRAVEL BEFORE PINK, IT'S A RISK THEY TAKE.
11. Why were families not told of their PGN approval for weeks? WE TELL FAMILIES THE MINUTE WE KNOW. IF YOUR CASE CAME OUT IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS, THERE IS NO WAY THAT IT WAS OUT OF PGN FOR 5 WEEKS. I DON'T KNOW WHO YOUR ATTY WAS, BUT TELLING FAMILIES THAT A CASE IS OUT IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY. I DON'T WAIT EVEN 10 MINUTES FROM THE TIME I FIND OUT UNTIL I CALL THE FAMILIES.
Positives in dealing with Special Delivery International:1. Our beautiful child who is a joy.2. Monthly picture and health updates.3. Our adoption consultant did return phone calls and e-mails promptly; however, most of the time she did not have any information due to our attorney not communicating with her.4. The caregivers at the hogar. The “mamas” love our children like their own until they are able to come home.Negatives in dealing with Special Delivery International:1. We were told they worked with a Christian attorney for 10 years. Unfortunately, we, unknowingly were assigned to an inexperienced attorney. Our adoption case took months longer due to his inexperience and obvious lack of concern. - No consistent legal updates from attorney. - Special Delivery International did not keep attorney accountable. 2. Our adoption consultant in U.S. didn’t seem to know current timelines and trends regarding Guatemalan adoptions. A lot of our questions were answered through an internet adoption forum.3. At times we were treated defensively when we asked questions. 4. We were never contacted after bringing our child home. This was very disheartening because we felt they would have cared enough to see how our child was adjusting.5. No post-placement visits required.Overall, we would not recommend Special Delivery International.
Special Delivery applied for, but did not receive accreditation approval, temporary or otherwise through either the Council on Accreditation (COA) or the Colorado Department of Human Services (CO). Only those adoption service providers who have been accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved by either COA or CO will be able to provide adoption services for Hague adoption cases after the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption enters into force for the United States on April 1, 2008
Questions or concerns related to the accreditation or approval of specific adoption service providers should be addressed to the Council on Accreditation or the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Why does Special Delivery continue to accept more children at their hogar in Solola, Guatemala, if they can not legally refer the children to US adoptive families? What will become of these children when the Hague goes into affect? What are the legal ramifications associated with providing tax credits to financial sponsors of these children through an intermediary charity organization (Glendale Christian Fellowship) given that neither Special Delivery nor the hogar are listed as legal charities for US residents?
According to Special Delivery's website: "Goldendale Christian Fellowship is a foundation to help projects all over the world . They will be sending the tax deductible receipts to you. And they are also covering the cost of Paypal Charges. Your complete donation will go to the Nido Del Aguila to sponsor the children. "
My husband and I were referred to Special Delivery for adoption services. Special Delivery is the only way to get a child being cared for at the Eagle's Nest Children's Home in Guatemala...that's the sad part. The end result (thanks be to God) from our horrific experience w/ SD was a BEAUTIFUL, well taken care of little 10 month old boy. I am FOREVER grateful to the care he received from the precious women who are employed by the Eagle's Nest. HOWEVER, b/c of our experience with the Boggs family, I would never recommend Special Delivery International.
On several occasions we were given false information. The caseworker was very cold and impersonal ninety percent of the time. Especially when something went wrong. We were called and told we were OUT of PGN two months after we actually came out! The lawyer they use most often was lazy and arrogant. We paid for a taxi more than once while staying in GC, b/c SD failed to provide an interpreter and transportation. When "called on the carpet" or confronted with their lies, they were defensive and rude. Thankfully our journey had a happy and joyful ending, but I feel comfortable saying that it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the adoption agency or the Boggs family. My family is grateful to God, friends, and our United States representitives! The moral of this comment???? THERE ARE PLENTY OF ADOPTION AGENCIES WAITING TO SERVE YOU......STAY AWAY FROM SPECIAL DELIVERY!!!!!
We used Special Delivery twice, once two years ago and we are just now finishing up the process for baby#2. We have been delighted to work with Special Delivery on both of our adoptions. We got frequent case updates, beautiful photos, and they were so helpful in answering any and all questions. I would highly recommend them to others and use them again! The Boggs children are all so helpful and truly care about all of the children and the families they place the children with. We did not have one single problem throughout both of our adoptions with Special Delivery and we are thrilled to have our two children come out of such a beautiful, clean, well run hogar. The Boggs family is top notch!!!!!
We have been very pleased with our experience with Special Delivery. We went down twice to their orphanage and brought our little girl back on the last visit. The orphanage is beautiful and very clean. Yes many babies are left in cribs longer than you would want as an adoptive parent seeing your child perhaps for the first time and I would say the facility was over crowded. Our daughter was 4 and she still talks about the mamas that took care of her. I saw nothing but love shared between many of the workers and the children being taken care of. I know of several families that have gone back for a second adoption and they chose Special Delivery the second time around.. That goes a long way in telling you that it was a positive experience.
My wife and I had a horrendous experience with SD. They made a referral to us and we were excited to work with them but it quickly became clear to us that they did not know what they were doing and that they were willing to be unethical and borderline dishonest. When we tried to resolve these issues with them they treated us horribly and refused to return our calls. It was especially hurtful to receive this treatment at the hands of a "Christian" agency so we cannot recommend them in any way.
We used Special Delivery (via Lifeline in Alabama). The people who run SD are the children of the missionaries who are actually at the orphanage (well, part of the year anyway). The information received is often misleading. When questioned on details, the staff can become defense-driven and often take out their personal agendas in order to keep their good name. I would definitely not recommend using them.
My husband and I were very excited to find an agency that was Christian and worked with an orphanage founded by missionaries. How disappointing to learn that they were not always honest and straightforward with us. When we first spoke with them on the phone we were told information that was misleading and untrue. The social worker went on to describe the attorney that they used and how they had worked with him for 10 plus years. This was important to us because we wanted to make sure there was an established relationship and that the agency new the attorney well. We ended up with an attorney that they had never used before and had countless problems. The only reason we learned we had a different attorney than we thought we had was because after 5 months of nothing happening with our case we began to question the attoney and the agency referred to our attorney as "she". We thought we had a "he". She seemed to lack integrity yet the Special Delivery always stood behind her. To us we feel like this was a "bait and switch". We were also told the numbers in the orphange were lower and that the babies were fed their bottles and not propped up with them. When we went there, ever baby was propped and the orphange was over-crowded. I guess at some point they need to weigh whether it's better to turn children away or over-crowd the home. We've been home for over 3 months now and still do not have all the paperwork and cannot complete our adoption. Would we recommend them to a friend or anyone else? Absolutely not.
This is a family run agency and the parents actually live in Guatemala and are " hands on"with the children in the orphanage. So you can get questions answered very quickly.
We used this agency not once but twice and LOVED them both times! They are a family run organization and after getting to know the family through our adoptions it is so obvious how much they truly care about what they are doing. It is not a 'business' to them- they love and care about each child that comes into their home. We also spent time staying at the orphanage with our daughter and I was highly impressed with the caregivers and how clean and well run the orphanage was. There are a lot of children but they are happy and well cared for and held constantly and totally loved by the staff. Our 2nd daughter came home just short of 4 years old and was able to tell us about her experience there. She had nothing but wonderful stories to tell us about the caregivers and the missionaries and was very happy there. I think that says more than anything I could write here because she lived there for 7 months of her life. You could not ask for a more ethical agency and we feel very fortunate to have worked with such an outstanding group of people. Our lives are forever changed by this loving family and the work that they do. They also helped make it possible for us to meet our daughters birthmothers- an experience that meant the world to us. I could not recommend them more!!
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Reviews
Do not use Special Delivery
We visited our baby at Eagle's Nest Children's home for four days. Without our knowledge, our baby's case exited PGN with approval the day before we arrived at the Hogar. We were in constant communication with both the social worker as well as three of the Boggs children at Special Delivery in the US. Not one of them divulged the PGN out to us. Despite our repeated pleas to stay and foster, we were denied our parental rights. Special Delivery left us with no choice, but to fly home without our baby. Special Delivery with held the information that our baby's case had been approved by PGN for a full 5 weeks. In addition, when we were finally granted custody of the baby, we were informed that because we didn't follow SD's standard procedure, - obtaining custody after receiveing PINK, that we would loose all escort services to/from the embassy doctor, to/from visa appointment and picking up the visa the next day. We were notified of the decline in services via e-mail 35 minutes before the embassy doctor's appointment. We were told about the appoinment, but no address was provided. We called our tour guide from our previous visit and he gave us the address of the embassy doctor and suggested that we hire a taxi, which we did. We hired our tour guide to bring us to the embassy appointment as well as pick up the visa the following day. The entire experence was disappointing. It was suppose to be a joyous, wonderful, happy time, but Special Delivery let us down in a country where we didn't even speak the language. While we were on our visit trip to Eagle's Nest Children's Home, we observed broken cribs, propped bottles for all the babies, over crowding (more than one baby per crib) and a preschool child eating what appeared to be vomit off the floor. There were no documented monthly doctor examinations by a certified physician. Our baby arrived home requiring two surgeries and months of doctor's appointments, hearing tests and medication to correct severe ear inflammation and failed hearing tests. The surgeon reported that she had never operated on such inflammed ears. The surgeon attributed the ear inflammation to propped bottles and repeated undocumented ear infections while at the children's home.
Cannot Recommend SDI
I cannot recommend that anyone work with Special Delivery International (SDI). I found them to be unprofessional, unkind and disrespectful both to my family and to many others SDI families that I had contact with. We were lied to on numerous occasions by them and also by the directors of EN, the children's home they work with. I also think there may be some confusion by some who believe the children's home directors are separate from SDI. Please note they are in fact also listed as employees of SDI. Many families, including my own, constantly lived or live in fear of what SDI or EN might do while in process, just for asking a legitimate and absolutely reasonable question. They often seem to use this fear or guilt to keep families from asking for information, and if that doesn't work, they have used intimidation and threats of withholding your children to get what they want. Please research them and also EN very carefully before making a decision to work with them. If you do, you might find many more questions than answers. (i.e. why EN still isn't 501c3 despite the website saying they applied in 2006, why there are so many new building projects even while claiming there's no money for formula, why SDI doesn't currently appear to have a Social Worker on staff, etc.). Whatever agency you eventually choose, do yourself a favor and document EVERYTHING they say. I recommend you request they put it in writing if it was verbal. If they won't, e-mail your notes on the conversation back to them for confirmation and documentation. SDI in particular will say whatever is convenient for the moment, but they do not stand by their word at all, sometimes even if it was documented.
Since it has been mentioned here on this site before, I will also note that as of the June 16th update, they were still not Hague Accredited, despite being on lists of the first ones with intentions to apply. I also wonder why when Ginger responded on this site at one point, she did so by giving them a score, instead of only making a comment.
Loved working with Special Delivery
We enjoyed a very good relationship with Special Delivery during our adoption process. We had a bump in the road when we lost our first referal when the birth mother literally snatched her back. SD worked with us to explain what happened, listened to our concerns and when the next little girl became available for adoption, they made sure that we could use Pedro as our lawyer. We took the referal the first week of December, spent five days at EN in Feb. and brought our 3 year old daughter home in May. We spent a lot of time researching and understanding the Guatemalan adoption process and a lot of time talking with SD here at home and Claire while at EN. Eagle's Nest is a wonderful place for the children. They were always willing to answer our questions no matter how busy they were. The children are well loved and cared for at EN. Our daughter still talks about the mama's that cared for her there. It is very obvious that the children come first, even with the crowded conditions for the little babies we saw first hand that they were well fed and always clean. The older kids are hugged, played with, well fed and very happy - even those whose lives before EN were tragic seemed to be at peace at EN. EN's mission is to save the children and find them loving homes, not to be a money-making proposition. They didn't turn away the children who had difficult cases and would be with them awhile and require long term care. They took them in and loved them. Having gotten to know the staff at SD very well, we realize they had a tough job with some cases and did the best they could to explain things to prospective parents who didn't realize how different the culture in Guatemala was from the U.S. (that was us until we spent a lot of time on fourms, etc and understood better was was happening in the adoption world down there). We also knew that the communications between SD and Eagle's Nest would be good because of their relationship. The monthly pictures- lots of them -were greatly appreciated. I would recommend SD and we would surely use them again if adoptions open up again in the near future.
Is it gossip?
I would question ANY agency that does not respond to a potential donator. I contacted SD and EN on more than one occasion to sponsor one of the children they have that cannot be adopted. I have NEVER received a reply. I assume the reason no one ever replied to me is that my name is stereotypically not Christian, and therefore I cannot adopt from this agency (I was inquiring to SPONSOR, not to adopt, a child that supposedly needed a sponsor). I find it especially disappointing that a "Christian" agency would act so un-Christianlike.
Contact after adoption completed.
EDITED:
We did not hear from Special Delivery AFTER we came home with our child.
Contact after adoption completed.
I wanted to follow-up on a comment from Ginger. We worked with Special Delivery directly and never heard from them. I e-mailed pictures to our consultant about a month after we were home and did not get a reply.
Answers to questions.
I am going to reply in CAPS, since I can't do it in bold, so please don't think I'm shouting!
1. What are the legal ramifications (if any) associated with providing tax credits to financial sponsors of these (waiting) children through an intermediary charity organization given that Special Delivery nor the hogar are listed as legal charities for US citizens? ALTHOUGH SPECIAL DELIVERY AND EAGLE'S NEST ARE "RELATED" BY WAY OF FAMILY, SPECIAL DELIVERY DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH GETTING THE "FUNDING" OR TAX CREDITS FOR EAGLE'S NEST. THAT IS COMPLETELY AN EAGLE'S NEST DEAL. WHEN PEOPLE SEND THEIR $$ FOR EAGLE'S NEST AND IT COMES TO THE OFFICE, THE ONLY THING THAT I HAVE DONE IS MAKE A NOTE OF IT, SEND A THANK YOU AND THEN SEND THE CHECKS TO THE CLEARINGHOUSE TO BE DEPOSITED IN THE ACCOUNT FOR EAGLE'S NEST. EAGLE'S NEST IS IN THE PROCESS OF BECOMING 501C-3 BUT IS NOT THERE YET, FOR THAT REASON WE ARE USING THAT OTHER PLACE. I ONLY KNOW THE NAME OF THE MAN THAT IS DOING THAT. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT IT, PLEASE CONTACT THEM OR EAGLE'S NEST. SDI DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT.
2. Why is a family still waiting for paperwork from SD to complete their adoption? WHAT SORT OF PAPERWORK ARE YOU MISSING FROM US? SINCE I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, I CAN'T HELP MAKE SURE YOU DO HAVE YOUR FINAL PAPERWORK.
3. Why aren't families contacted by SD after arriving home with their children? WE DO CONTACT THEM UNLESS YOU ARE WITH ANOTHER AGENCY. IF YOU ARE WITH ANOTHER AGENCY WE HAVE A SPECIFIC CONTRACT THAT WE CANNOT CONTACT THEIR FAMILIES DIRECTLY SO WE HAVE TO RELY ON THE SOCIAL WORKER TO DO THAT. OUR SOCIAL WORKER AND CONSULTANTS ARE SUPPOSED TO CONTACT FAMILIES WHEN THEY GET BACK TO MAKE SURE ALL IS GOING WELL.
4. Why are there no consistent legal updates from attorneys? DEPENDING ON THE ATTY. IF YOU HAD IVAN, SAUL OR LAURA, THEY ARE NOT VERY RELIABLE WITH UPDATES OR EVEN ACCURATE UPDATES. WE HAVE BEEN VERY FRUSTRATED WITH THEM SINCE IT MADE US LOOK LIKE LIARS WHEN WE WOULD TELL OUR FAMILIES WHAT WAS GOING ON AND THEN BY THE NEXT UPDATE IT WOULD NOT BE TRUE.
5. Why does/did SD work with inexperienced attorneys? WELL, THERE WERE A FEW ATTY'S THAT APPROACHED US, THEY HAD GIRLS, AND AS YOU MIGHT KNOW, WE HAD A HUGE LIST OF FAMILIES WAITING TO ADOPT GIRLS. WE WORKED WITH IVAN IN THE PAST AND HE IS GOOD, BUT EXTREMELY SLOW AND WOULD OFTEN LIE, BUT HIS CASES DID GET DONE. (I THINK THAT HE HAD TOO MANY OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES TO MAKE ADOPTIONS A PRIORITY) LAURA CAME RECOMMENDED TO US BY A FRIEND AND SAUL WAS THE PASTOR/ATTY OF ANOTHER MISSIONARY COUPLE THAT NEEDED HELP AND DIDN'T KNOW AT ALL WHAT HE WAS DOING. PEDRO IS OUR MAIN, ATTY AND IS VERY EXPERIENCED AND UP TO DATE. WE HAVE WORKED WITH HIM FOR 15 YEARS. ALL OF THIS IS TRIAL AND ERROR, WE ENDED UP MAKING MISTAKES, BUT THEN WE ARE HUMAN. WE DO REGRET THOSE MISTAKES AND HOPE THAT OUR FAMILIES IN THE FUTURE WILL NOT HAVE TO DEPEND ON LAZY ATTYS WHEN ALL THESE HAGUE REQUIREMENTS ARE IMPLEMENTED.
6. Why are the children never examined montly by a licensed physician? THAT WAS NEVER REQUIRED BEFORE THE HAGUE. DR XURUC CAME UP AND HE DID EXAMINE THE KIDS, I DON'T KNOW IF HE ONLY SEES THE SICK ONES OR WHAT. HE WOULD COME UP MONTHLY AND DO THE VACCINATIONS, BUT WE WOULD NEVER GET ANY MEDICAL LETTERS INDICATING THAT CHILDREN WERE SEEN UNLESS THERE WERE MORE SERIOUS ISSUES. I GUESS I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT FAMILIES WERE WANTING/NEEDING TO HAVE A MEDICAL REPORT OTHER THAN THE HEALTH REPORT EVERY MONTH, THIS WAS NEVER ASKED FOR US TO DO NOR WAS IT REQUIRED.
7. Why is there more than one baby per crib? THE ONLY TIME THERE IS MORE THAN ONE BABY IN A CRIB IS WHEN THEY ARE TEENY AND NOT ROLLING OVER YET. ONCE THEY ARE A LITTLE BIGGER THEY ARE MOVED TO BEDS BY THEMSELVES. HONESTLY, ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH EAGLE'S NEST AND QUESTIONS ABOUT CARE ETC, SHOULD BE ASKED TO CLAIRE DIRECTLY. SHE WILL ANSWER THEM. JUST REMEMBER THAT THE HOME IS A GOOD HOME, WE HAVE OVER 4500 SQ FT AND AT ONE TIME WE HAD OVER 80 CHILDREN, NOT ENOUGH BEDS AT TIMES SO THAT WAS WHY THEY SHARED.
8. Why are bottles propped? Why are the babies not held during bottle feedings? AGAIN, 80 BABIES, 20 WORKERS AT ONE GIVEN SHIFT AND THEY ARE ALL HUNGRY AT THE SAME TIME SINCE THEY ARE ON A SCHEDULE, YOU CAN'T HOLD THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME AND FEE THEM. THEY ARE HELD WHEN THEY CAN THOUGH FOR FEEDINGS.
9. Why are some cribs broken? Missing slats, etc? i'LL HAVE TO REDIRECT THAT QUESITON AGAIN TO EAGLE'S NEST. I AM NOT THERE, SO I DON'T SEE THE PROBLEMS OR THE THINGS THAT ARE BROKEN.
10. Why would SD deny clients escort services to the embassy? WE DON'T DENY THEM, BUT WE DO TELL THEM THAT THEY HAVE TO MAKE THEIR OWN ARRANGEMENTS IF THEY TRAVEL PRIOR TO PINK. THE EMBASSY EVEN TELLS FAMILIES THAT. WHEN FAMILIES TRAVEL BEFORE PINK, IT'S A RISK THEY TAKE.
11. Why were families not told of their PGN approval for weeks? WE TELL FAMILIES THE MINUTE WE KNOW. IF YOUR CASE CAME OUT IN LESS THAN 6 MONTHS, THERE IS NO WAY THAT IT WAS OUT OF PGN FOR 5 WEEKS. I DON'T KNOW WHO YOUR ATTY WAS, BUT TELLING FAMILIES THAT A CASE IS OUT IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY. I DON'T WAIT EVEN 10 MINUTES FROM THE TIME I FIND OUT UNTIL I CALL THE FAMILIES.
PLEASE E-MAIL ME DIRECLTY IF YOU NEED PAPERWORK FROM US ginger@specialdeliveryint.com if you have questions for eagle's nest please contact www.eaglesnestint.org
Very disappointed in Special Delivery International
Positives in dealing with Special Delivery International:1. Our beautiful child who is a joy.2. Monthly picture and health updates.3. Our adoption consultant did return phone calls and e-mails promptly; however, most of the time she did not have any information due to our attorney not communicating with her.4. The caregivers at the hogar. The “mamas” love our children like their own until they are able to come home.Negatives in dealing with Special Delivery International:1. We were told they worked with a Christian attorney for 10 years. Unfortunately, we, unknowingly were assigned to an inexperienced attorney. Our adoption case took months longer due to his inexperience and obvious lack of concern. - No consistent legal updates from attorney. - Special Delivery International did not keep attorney accountable. 2. Our adoption consultant in U.S. didn’t seem to know current timelines and trends regarding Guatemalan adoptions. A lot of our questions were answered through an internet adoption forum.3. At times we were treated defensively when we asked questions. 4. We were never contacted after bringing our child home. This was very disheartening because we felt they would have cared enough to see how our child was adjusting.5. No post-placement visits required.Overall, we would not recommend Special Delivery International.
Special Delivery is not Hague Accredited
Special Delivery applied for, but did not receive accreditation approval, temporary or otherwise through either the Council on Accreditation (COA) or the Colorado Department of Human Services (CO). Only those adoption service providers who have been accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved by either COA or CO will be able to provide adoption services for Hague adoption cases after the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption enters into force for the United States on April 1, 2008
Questions or concerns related to the accreditation or approval of specific adoption service providers should be addressed to the Council on Accreditation or the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Why does Special Delivery continue to accept more children at their hogar in Solola, Guatemala, if they can not legally refer the children to US adoptive families? What will become of these children when the Hague goes into affect? What are the legal ramifications associated with providing tax credits to financial sponsors of these children through an intermediary charity organization (Glendale Christian Fellowship) given that neither Special Delivery nor the hogar are listed as legal charities for US residents?
According to Special Delivery's website: "Goldendale Christian Fellowship is a foundation to help projects all over the world . They will be sending the tax deductible receipts to you. And they are also covering the cost of Paypal Charges. Your complete donation will go to the Nido Del Aguila to sponsor the children. "
SAD BUT TRUE...
My husband and I were referred to Special Delivery for adoption services. Special Delivery is the only way to get a child being cared for at the Eagle's Nest Children's Home in Guatemala...that's the sad part. The end result (thanks be to God) from our horrific experience w/ SD was a BEAUTIFUL, well taken care of little 10 month old boy. I am FOREVER grateful to the care he received from the precious women who are employed by the Eagle's Nest. HOWEVER, b/c of our experience with the Boggs family, I would never recommend Special Delivery International.
On several occasions we were given false information. The caseworker was very cold and impersonal ninety percent of the time. Especially when something went wrong. We were called and told we were OUT of PGN two months after we actually came out! The lawyer they use most often was lazy and arrogant. We paid for a taxi more than once while staying in GC, b/c SD failed to provide an interpreter and transportation. When "called on the carpet" or confronted with their lies, they were defensive and rude. Thankfully our journey had a happy and joyful ending, but I feel comfortable saying that it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the adoption agency or the Boggs family. My family is grateful to God, friends, and our United States representitives! The moral of this comment???? THERE ARE PLENTY OF ADOPTION AGENCIES WAITING TO SERVE YOU......STAY AWAY FROM SPECIAL DELIVERY!!!!!
Love them!
We used Special Delivery twice, once two years ago and we are just now finishing up the process for baby#2. We have been delighted to work with Special Delivery on both of our adoptions. We got frequent case updates, beautiful photos, and they were so helpful in answering any and all questions. I would highly recommend them to others and use them again! The Boggs children are all so helpful and truly care about all of the children and the families they place the children with. We did not have one single problem throughout both of our adoptions with Special Delivery and we are thrilled to have our two children come out of such a beautiful, clean, well run hogar. The Boggs family is top notch!!!!!
It was a great experience
We have been very pleased with our experience with Special Delivery. We went down twice to their orphanage and brought our little girl back on the last visit. The orphanage is beautiful and very clean. Yes many babies are left in cribs longer than you would want as an adoptive parent seeing your child perhaps for the first time and I would say the facility was over crowded. Our daughter was 4 and she still talks about the mamas that took care of her. I saw nothing but love shared between many of the workers and the children being taken care of. I know of several families that have gone back for a second adoption and they chose Special Delivery the second time around.. That goes a long way in telling you that it was a positive experience.
Avoid Special Delivery
My wife and I had a horrendous experience with SD. They made a referral to us and we were excited to work with them but it quickly became clear to us that they did not know what they were doing and that they were willing to be unethical and borderline dishonest. When we tried to resolve these issues with them they treated us horribly and refused to return our calls. It was especially hurtful to receive this treatment at the hands of a "Christian" agency so we cannot recommend them in any way.
Not recommended
We used Special Delivery (via Lifeline in Alabama). The people who run SD are the children of the missionaries who are actually at the orphanage (well, part of the year anyway). The information received is often misleading. When questioned on details, the staff can become defense-driven and often take out their personal agendas in order to keep their good name. I would definitely not recommend using them.
My husband and I were very
My husband and I were very excited to find an agency that was Christian and worked with an orphanage founded by missionaries. How disappointing to learn that they were not always honest and straightforward with us. When we first spoke with them on the phone we were told information that was misleading and untrue. The social worker went on to describe the attorney that they used and how they had worked with him for 10 plus years. This was important to us because we wanted to make sure there was an established relationship and that the agency new the attorney well. We ended up with an attorney that they had never used before and had countless problems. The only reason we learned we had a different attorney than we thought we had was because after 5 months of nothing happening with our case we began to question the attoney and the agency referred to our attorney as "she". We thought we had a "he". She seemed to lack integrity yet the Special Delivery always stood behind her. To us we feel like this was a "bait and switch". We were also told the numbers in the orphange were lower and that the babies were fed their bottles and not propped up with them. When we went there, ever baby was propped and the orphange was over-crowded. I guess at some point they need to weigh whether it's better to turn children away or over-crowd the home. We've been home for over 3 months now and still do not have all the paperwork and cannot complete our adoption. Would we recommend them to a friend or anyone else? Absolutely not.
This is a family run agency
This is a family run agency and the parents actually live in Guatemala and are " hands on"with the children in the orphanage. So you can get questions answered very quickly.
We used this agency not once
We used this agency not once but twice and LOVED them both times! They are a family run organization and after getting to know the family through our adoptions it is so obvious how much they truly care about what they are doing. It is not a 'business' to them- they love and care about each child that comes into their home. We also spent time staying at the orphanage with our daughter and I was highly impressed with the caregivers and how clean and well run the orphanage was. There are a lot of children but they are happy and well cared for and held constantly and totally loved by the staff. Our 2nd daughter came home just short of 4 years old and was able to tell us about her experience there. She had nothing but wonderful stories to tell us about the caregivers and the missionaries and was very happy there. I think that says more than anything I could write here because she lived there for 7 months of her life. You could not ask for a more ethical agency and we feel very fortunate to have worked with such an outstanding group of people. Our lives are forever changed by this loving family and the work that they do. They also helped make it possible for us to meet our daughters birthmothers- an experience that meant the world to us. I could not recommend them more!!