here we go
So we are now waiting for a referral. It seems almost anti climatic after working on this process for so long. We decided to adopt from Ethiopia over a year ago. Our initial plan was to begin the process in June but a domestic adoption opportunity came up and derailed us. Not because we were even close to being chosen to adopt that baby, but because it then made us rethink our plans.
We felt like we were flung back at the beginning of the process all over again; questioning if we were making the right decision, if this was the path we were meant to follow. After a lot of soul searching and intensive research, we finally started the home study process in August. I was sure then what we would have our dossier done by December and would have a referral sometime early this spring. It has been a long road to finally get to this point but everything still feels so far away. This milestone is huge and yet is really just one small step in the journey to bring us to our child.
I’m excited to be making progress but discouraged because everything is now out of my hands and all I can do is sit on the sidelines and wait. I have no control over how long we will wait or when we will travel...there is nothing I can do to speed up the process or bring my baby home any faster. Patience is not my strong suit!
I’m hoping to spend a lot of time learning all I can about Ethiopia. Maybe I will pick up a course on speaking Amharic or practice making injera. I’m starting to think about traveling and what vaccinations we may need and weather to travel a bit before meeting our child in Addis. Mostly I’m hoping that the usual chaos of working part-time and running around after two young kids and a new puppy will keep me too occupied to realize that we have been only waiting for 1 day, 4 hours, and 12 minutes. I think it’ll work…
Referral Picture 6/21/07
4 comments:
Carrie, what is the expected wait time for a referral in Ethiopia?
I'm intrigued with the differences and similarities between the countries' adoption processes.
I understand! I remember feeling a bit sad when I sent my dossier to Russia. I knew the only thing left was waiting. Hang in there. Your time will come.
Suz,
Currently wait times with our agency are running around 18 weeks for an infant boy...longer for an infant girl. We have to get a referral by the first week of July to make it through the courts before they close for 2 1/2 months at the beginning of August. If we make it before the courts close then we will travel in late August or September. If we miss the closure then we won't be traveling until mid November at the earliest.
Talk about adding some drama to the already excruciating wait!
Dear Carrie,
I am an adoptive father of a four year old girl from Ethiopia. We were lucky enough to not have to wait too long, but I can imagine it must be very tough. I do remember that as I was anxiously putting together our dossier and preparing the paperwork, two very different people said essentially the same thing to me. Both a nineteen year old African American girl in my Xerox shop, and a Texan woman who was probably sixty-plus said: It's all gonna be worth it. I took a lot of comfort in that.
good luck and hang in there!
pat blashill
http://eurolikeme.blogspot.com/
http://www.patblashill.com/
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