Reality Check!

Last week our agency had a conference call with waiting families and families compiling their dossiers.

We weren't sure what to expect from the call ... at first we were really nervous because our agency hasn't had any referrals in 4 months (it feels crazy to even type that, I can't believe it's been so long!) so we were a tad worried that it could be bad news ... like the program shutting down or our agency being investigated ...  my mind automatically goes to the worst case scenarios (thank goodness Bret's doesn't).

Turns out that it wasn't either of those but it wasn't necessarily good news either. The short of it is ... the Ethiopia Program is slowing down. The US Embassy is asking for more paperwork and clarification than ever before. Which means that agencies are now trying to collect all this information up front, to ensure the likelihood of getting an interview with a birth parent, family member, etc. on the front end as opposed to several months after the child has been relinquished, orphaned, etc. This is causing referrals to be delayed but the hope is that the process will be quicker when we get to Embassy.

We were also told on the call that our window for a referral has expanded. When we joined the Ethiopia Adoption Program in July 2010 we were told that the estimated wait time for a girl 0-12 months old would be 7-11 months. Now we are being told that a referral can be expected in the next 12-18 months. Given this new wait time we decided to expand our preference from 0-6 months to a 0-12 month old baby girl.

We would expand more if we had been approved for a higher age range but the truth is (according to our agency) they are seeing less older children being referred and instead are seeing more infants and toddlers. Our home study will have to be revised in January, if we have not received a referral by then, and our fingerprints will also need to be redone so at that point we may expand our preferred age range further, just to increase our chances of getting a referral that much sooner.

In a way, we feel like we're starting the wait all over again, knowing that it could be 7 more months (or longer before we get our referral). Today we celebrate being on the waitlist for:

 11 Months

This is my brother and sister in-law, Brandon and Lisa. They will be a great aunt and uncle! They have been so supportive of our adoption journey - thanks guys!

Here's to hoping that we see our little girl's sweet face in 1-7 months from today!

We're still here for you, baby girl!

We will not give up on you!

Mommy and Daddy, will do whatever it takes to make you an orphan no more! and bring you home to your forever family!