Now what?
Thank you for all the enthusiasm. Now that everyone is feeling much better and I managed to catch an entire night’s sleep, I do feel much more excited to be finished with the dossier and on to the next step. We’re on our way now!
I talked with our agency today and they are in the process of reviewing our documents and sending off the few things that need certification by the Ethiopian Embassy. So far nothing jumps out at them as missing, incomplete, or just plain wrong…thank heavens. As soon as they get those documents back from DC, they’ll ship the dossier over to Ethiopia and we will then be officially waiting. They anticipate it’ll take two weeks for all the paperwork to pull together and get half way across the world so we should be on the wait list in mid February. I’m trying out a new count up clock in my side bar to see if I like it. If it stays then I’ll update it to our official wait date when we get it.
The bad news is that the wait time is about 4-6 months for an infant. Not long compared to most programs, but this will likely dump us right in the middle of court closures. The courts in Ethiopia close for 2 ½ months during the rainy season, usually the beginning of August to the middle of October. This means that you need to have a referral by the first of July to be able to get your case though the courts before they close. 4 months puts us at mid-June, which is very optimistic in my opinion. 6 months will be after the courts have already closed.
The major downside of getting a referral while the courts are closed is having to wait much longer to travel after referral. Take Anne for example (sorry sweetie), she got her referral on July 11th, missed court, and didn’t get to bring her adorable little girl home until November 27th. One of the reasons we liked the Ethiopian program was because of the short wait between referral and travel, usually 6-8 weeks. I can only imagine that the wait is much, much harder when you have a little face to look at, and know a little person is on the other side of the world just waiting for you to come.
This is going to really add a new element of fun to our wait for a referral…will we make court closure??? Fun, fun, fun.
Ok, no more doom and gloom. What is meant to be, will be and it’s all out of our hands now. So…any ideas on how to NOT obsess about the adoption while we are waiting?
Referral Picture 6/21/07
7 comments:
In our case the question was, will we get to leave the country before the courts close! Fingers crossed for you!
Hey! Just back after a week away - wanted to say CONGRATS on getting your dossier finished. Is that a relief or what?!?
I hope you get your court date before the closures. I can't believe you are already done with the paperwork.
You could very well make the court closure. we received our referral in early may and made it--barely as we had to wait out the 3 month period for infants. Best of luck.
I bet you'll make it, esp since you are open to a boy...
Mary
Hey, big congrats to you for the MAJOR milestone accomplishment of finishing your dossier.....
My fingers (and toes) are crossed that you make it before court closures!
There is a surprise coming your way from your Secret Blog Pal! My apologies for not contacting you sooner.....we have been out of the country!!!!!
I'll be following your journey from here on out!!!!!!
I feel really good about your chances. It seems to me that things are moving along very efficiently with AAI right now -- and, as Mary said, if you're open to a boy things will go much faster than if you were only open to a girl. I think we were very much the exception to the rule -- there were people who were getting referrals the same time we were who got their adoptions finalized before the courts closed last year -- it was the 3 month rule that did us in.
Now, as to how to survive the wait, I have no good advice except shopping, followed by cryostasis. For us, the wait for referral was hard, but the wait between referral and travel was BRUTAL. Of course, having Steve take a trip to Ethiopia during the closure helped hugely -- but that's obviously not possible for everyone.
BUT we're all home and we couldn't be happier with our little Hayat -- she is such a joy. I don't think I'll ever have that convenient amnesia about it, but having this little bundle of happiness to wake up to every day definitely has taken a lot of the sting out of it.
Congratulations on getting your dossier done!!! And here's to a short wait and quick travel. I'm so, so excited for you!
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