The Pence family is not alone in their adoption struggle.

Possibly hundreds of adoptions between Vietnam and the U.S. are being delayed following allegations of corruption in the Vietnamese adoption system.

In addition to a law that was implemented in November -- giving U.S. Embassy workers in Vietnam more time to ensure that each baby is truly an orphan -- an agreement allowing adoptions between the two nations ends in September.

Susan Fox with Greensboro-based Carolina Adoption Services said Vietnam wants to negotiate a new adoption agreement. "But in all likelihood," she said, there will be a period where adoptions to the U.S. won't be processed.

Still, there is hope.

Fox said those with referrals by Sept. 1 should get their babies.

She said plenty of families have waited longer than the 90 days that Embassy officials need to verify each adoption and approve paperwork needed to bring a child into the U.S. The delays often stem from limited staff, she said, working to make sure each child is an orphan.

In the past six months, Fox said the U.S. has been "hot and heavy" on ensuring each adoption is legitimate. But she doubts corruption is widespread. Even after the U.S. Embassy released a report last month accusing Vietnam of allowing unethical adoptions, she said, families mentioned in the report stepped forward to say some information was inaccurate.

"I can't help but believe ... that it is only a handful of cases," said Fox, who serves as executive director of the agency's Roanoke subsidiary, ABC Adoption.

-- Erinn Hutkin