Thursday, March 28, 2013

It's been awhile....

I know it has been awhile since our last update, but the adoption front has been rather SLOW, unfortunately. Last month, there were no referrals made and thus no movement on the list, which was quite disappointing. When we started this whole process, the estimated wait time was approximated at a little over 2 years from joining the waitlist, to referral. These time frames fluctuate, but the more I research I do on families currently getting referrals, and looking at our movement in the last 8 months on the list (cant believe we have been on it that long), the more we are starting realize that 2 years is not a realistic time frame. When I calculate our movement thus far, and keeping nearly the same pace as our first 8 months, our referral may not come for nearly 4-5 years! Talk about disheartening. There are over 6 million orphans in Ethiopia alone who are need of homes, but movement in getting them home is overwhelming slow. Jay and I recently heard about a movie concerning the issue of international adoption and the orphan crisis called STUCK (rather fitting title). There are limited viewings, in limited cities, but Columbus is one of them and we are defiantly going to check it out. This film is an award-winning documentary that uncovers the personal, real-life stories of children and parents navigating through the rollercoaster of bureaucracy surrounding international adoption and the flaws that are present in the process. I have enclosed the trailer for this film HEREIn watching the trailer I don’t know whether to cry or get angry!


In light of the recent progress, or lack there of, our adoption agency has made some changes to their policies when it comes to family planning. When we first started our process, it was strictly forbidden to adopt or give birth to another child while waiting. They are now allowing this, so long as there is at least 10months age difference between the child and the Ethiopian child, with the later being the youngest (they are very strict about maintaining birth order). I do not know what this means for Jay and I quite yet. We still have our nephew and luckily, no matter what happens with him, our adoption will not be hindered.

So, exactly where are we currently? We received word today that we are officially #95 on the waitlist. We started at 116 eight months ago. I pray for bigger movement, in fact I yearn for it. But, I have to say that God has a lot to teach us, and we do feel like He is drawing us nearer to himself through this process, and that is comforting and much needed. We appreciate continued prayers.

I have decided that I am going to blog our progress with each 10 spots we move and with special updates. I initially thought this would be a monthly blog about our process, but I’m afraid it would get really boring over the next 4-5 years. Not to mention full time parenting to a toddler takes a lot of our energy and spare time. Thank you all for following and we hope to hear of more referrals soon.