We had a conference call with our agency, America World, today. We were able to get a bit more information about what is going on. It doesn't necessarily answer all of our questions about how this will all work out, but it was good to hear.
First, let me start by saying I love our agency. They do such a good job in giving good information, but only what they know is true. There is no speculating or emotional response with them.....which is so important since most of us are plenty emotional without their help! :) They are encouraging and tell us often that they are praying for each one of us - I couldn't recommend them more.
In a nutshell, here is what we learned:
Both parents are now required to travel for their children's court date. The biggest reason for this change is that sometimes parents were traveling to Ethiopia (after they'd passed court) and finding their child to be different than what they expected....more medical issues, developmental delays, etc. Apparently, some families chose to leave that child behind and come home without them. Here is the big problem: Ethiopian adoption is a fully irrevocable process. That means, in their country, there is no undoing it, which is really bad for these kids left behind. They are now stuck without hope of ever being matched with a new family. So, now we will travel to Ethiopia a few days before our court date and spend time with our child. Then, we will go to court to testify of our desire to adopt our child(ren). Honestly, it makes sense. I remember when our agency went to court for Elijah (on our behalf), it did feel a little weird that this child we had never seen or held was now legally ours by his country. I wasn't having doubts, but the process of that felt a little strange.
So, we will travel anywhere from 2-8 weeks after our referral to meet our child, go to court and then return home. (BOO for this part!!) We then wait for the Embassy to do the paperwork and investigating they need to do and will return to ET 8-12 weeks after our court date to bring our child home.....could be a little sooner. No one knows how this process will change over the coming months (it probably will!), but this is the current plan.....not that there is ever a consistent plan with international adoption....the only consistent thing about the whole thing is change!
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4 comments:
I wish there was some way that people could stay a little longer in country and just bring their child(ren) home on the first trip. It will be interesting to see what happens as they work out the kinks.
gina
Thank you so much for telling us what you know! We just applied and are waiting for approval so obviously no one is telling us what is going on and I feel a little lost.
Yes - we are in the same position. I completely understand why it needs to be done and why this change is important. (Though I am praying we don't have to make two trips...we watch the videos of all our children all the time, but that is just unique given our circumstances. So there are no surprises for us.) No matter - I am so excited that soon our child will be with us. Do you know when you may be flying out to ET?
We won't be traveling anytime soon....we just came home with Elijah in August 2009 and have to wait until August 2010 to submit our dossier....so we've got lots of time. The process may change 2 or 3 times by then! :)
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