What next?

Since our referral the number one question we have had is, "So, when do you get to get him?" Boy, do we wish we knew the answer to that question. Here is the process we will go through from this point. First, we wait to be assigned a court date. Then, we wait for the court date to actually arrive. That is an extremely important piece of the puzzle, because we must pass court to proceed. We have seen many court dates pass flawlessly on the first attempt. We have seen at least that many not pass. They can fall through for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to: power outages, missing forms, judges who don't make it in to work that day, someone not showing up, Ethiopian holidays, etc. We have seen people have at least 6 court dates before passing. Once we pass court, we wait for an embassy date, this is usually only 3-4 weeks.

That embassy date is when we actually have to be in the country. We will travel over there for about a week, meet our son, explore Ethiopian culture, attend our embassy appointment, tour a few of the government orphanages, and finalize everything. Needless to say, we can't wait. Ryan was talking last night about how badly he wanted to get on a plane and go get him. To which I responded, "Yeah, me too. I'd just rather not do 40 to life for kidnapping!"

So, that still doesn't tell you when we'll get him. We really don't know. You see, there used to be a "typical" timeframe for each of these steps. But, the bottom line is, it seems there is nothing typical in the world of Ethiopian adoption right now. The Ethiopian courts are flooded and they have just passed some new regulations that seem to be slowing everything down. While it's very frustrating to me as a spoiled American citizen. I respect the fact that Ethiopia is interested in protecting their children and in making sure that all of the adoptions are done in an ethical fashion- even if it means I wait a little longer (that is harder to believe than it is to say most days).

We have seen people make it from this point in as little as 6 weeks, as long as 6 month, and an average of about 3 months. We're praying for a Christmas miracle, but realistically, we're prepared for a January or February travel date and we're really hoping we don't get the longest wait yet badge!

We are now praying for so many of our blog friends as they are currently facing some of these extended waits. Our agency had about 10 families that were scheduled for court dates in these last few days who are now facing postponements until mid-November because of some of the issues I mentioned. One of these families saw their son's face in a photo for the first time in March and has now been postponed again- can you imagine!

So, I'll close by saying this- and I quote my blog friend Grace, "International adoption is NOT for sissies." I really have to refrain from ranting and raving every time someone comments to me on how this adoption must be so much easier than having to go through pregnancy and delivery. Let me just say, I carried and birthed 4 babies- one of whom was born 10 days early weighing 10lbs. and 6 oz. and I would say that was a cakewalk compared to this adoption journey. I have no regrets, God has taught me in ways I could never have imagined and he has sheltered me in his wing. There have been days when his Word was the only thing I could cling to, and it's not over yet! But, I feel confident in the end, I'll be able to proclaim that It Was Worth It!