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The love is between two Missouri parents and the son they are trying to adopt from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

What鈥檚 broken is the American immigration system that keeps them apart.

Adam Trower is a banker in Bowling Green. His wife, Jill, is a second grade teacher in Vandalia. They live on a farm in rural Curryville about halfway between the two northeast Missouri towns where they work. When their daughter, Nora, was about 7, they decided to complete their family. They couldn鈥檛 have any more children of their own, so they went about adopting Luke.

He was 6 months old at the time, living in an orphanage in Congo. Luke had been found abandoned near a dumpster in Kinshasa, taken to the police station, and eventually he was referred to an orphanage.

The Trowers have a friend who volunteers for a nonprofit called the that raises money for children in orphanages in Congo, where years of violence, famine and government corruption have left millions of children on the streets.

In October 2018, the Trowers submitted the proper form, called an , to the U.S. Citizens and Immigration Service, or USCIS, to seek approval as an appropriate family to adopt a child in a foreign orphanage. In a month, the application was approved. The Trowers then started the adoption process in Congo. That included an investigation to determine that Luke wasn鈥檛 being trafficked, that he was legitimately abandoned. In May 2019, a judge in Congo issued the adoption papers.

This is where love turns to brokenness.

In order for an American family to unite with their adopted child, the USCIS forwards the application to the Department of State, which conducts its own inquiry. Congo isn鈥檛 one of the countries that has signed on to the , which makes adoptions in that country more difficult.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 where this case started to fall off the rails,鈥� says David Gearhart, an attorney with , whom the Trowers鈥� hired after the delays began. 鈥淭he embassy in Congo had the investigation paperwork for six months and nothing had been done.鈥�

That was before the pandemic hit, which, of course, slowed matters further.

For months, the Trowers and Gearhart could get no answers. USCIS blamed State; State blamed USCIS. Luke was stuck in the orphanage. He Facetimed with his new parents, who sent money to help feed and clothe him. He speaks Lingala and French, so the conversations are stilted.

The offices of U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley wrote letters and made calls on the Trowers鈥� behalf, but they couldn鈥檛 get answers either. Until January this year. That鈥檚 when the family received a notice of intent to deny their adoption from the USCIS. It wasn鈥檛 an actual denial, just an indication that one was coming.

They were dumbfounded. The State Department investigation didn鈥檛 even interview the orphanage nor the judge who approved the adoption. Gearhart filed an immediate response with detailed background of Luke鈥檚 past. The judge in the case issued a harsh condemnation of the U.S. government鈥檚 failure to understand Congo law. Nine months later, the adoption application is still pending, and the Trowers have received no answers.

鈥淭he process is broken,鈥� Adam Trower says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating when it feels like the government has turned its back on us. There are moments when we feel like we have hope, but then nothing ever changes.鈥�

One of those moments of hope came in May, as the Senate was working through the confirmation of Ur Mendoza Jaddou as the new director of USCIS. During a hearing, Hawley (who would eventually vote no on her appointment), asked Jaddou to commit that 鈥淯SCIS will fully and fairly consider the merits of the Trower family鈥檚 petition and provide a decision as soon as possible.鈥�

Yes, she said.

She was confirmed July 30.

The Trowers still haven鈥檛 heard anything. They鈥檙e preparing a lawsuit against USCIS to force an answer.

鈥淗ere this family is three years into it; and we still know nothing,鈥� Gearhart says. 鈥淚t just tears them apart. It鈥檚 just heartbreaking.鈥�

They aren鈥檛 giving up. In fact, despite all the difficulties, and no guarantee that they will ever unite with Luke, they wouldn鈥檛 do anything differently.

鈥淜nowing everything I know now, I would still do this again,鈥� says Jill Trower. 鈥淗e deserves a chance of having a family. We want our son home.鈥�