Ethiopian Gov't passes new travel requirements..

We received word today that the Ethiopian Government has changed the way it's doing adoptions and as of today if you are adopting from Ethiopia you will be required to travel on 2 separate occasions. Yikes! The first trip is expected to only take 3 days, just enough for you to see the child and accept him/her in person. Apparently there has been some instances where adoptive parents arrive to pick up their child and decide against the union..for whatever reason. I know, I know..what the *&#@! are they thinking? But since we don't really know the whole story we'll just have to pray the kids have found their forever families as was meant to be. Let me back up...up until today you filed paperwork for adoption in Ethiopia, got on the 'list' (that's where I am..incase you haven't read the latest), and the next step is your referral. The agency contacts you with a referral, you have a few days to review it and either you accept or decline. The instances of declined referrals are minimal because of all of the up front paper work you fill out with all of your requests, including all of the medical issues you are willing to tackle with your child..it really is quite a mental drain but there is a reason for it and your referral should reflect what your dossier paperwork has approved you for. Once you accept the referral, then your agency has someone in country to represent you at the court hearings, which will be scheduled somewhere around 2-3 months after accepting the referral. Have I lost you yet?..hang on I'm almost done! Then after they have had the court date and you have been officially, legally declared guardian , THEN you make your flight arrangements and head over to Addis Abba Ethiopia to pick up your little gem! Now, we looked at MANY different avenues, explored both domestic and international adoption..private and open..same race and interracial..boy or girl..etc,etc. You can't imagine the possibilities until you have it right in front of you. We knew we were meant to adopt, very much convinced it was part of our family plan from the beginning, but we didn't know how or where or who or when or any of that stuff..so it took us a while. In the process we learned that travel was an issue we needed to address with regard to having 2 young children staying behind. Ethiopia was great because the travel was minimal..7 days max. In and out. Our girls would think they were enjoying a vacation, not separation. Perfect! We looked at other countries that required 2 or 3 separate trips to the country before you were able to bring your child home. Also a few others required you to stay in country for weeks, some months before allowing you a court date to take your child home. Now I should say that all of these countries have their way of doing things and many people adopt from there every year so it's not a bad arrangement for some..but it wasn't what we were comfortable with. Again, Ethiopia looked great! But as I mentioned today has revealed a new chapter in our adoption story. We will be waiting to hear more from our agency, to get the details and to find out if this is permanent for the country (one who needs adoptive families worse than anyplace I can imagine) and praying that it does not deter others from choosing this path. So where do WE stand now? Funny thing..when I rec'd the email I was a bit shocked and thought 'oh no, wonder what my husband will think about that" and immediately I said to myself..if one of my daughters was across the world I would travel there every week for as long as they'd let me in order to see her and bring her home. Of course we'll go there, he's there and that's what we are meant to do, we must go to him as often as we can until we can bring him home. We'll just need a new plan, one that includes a little more money, a positive attitude and as always prayers. Oh and for my husband..he came home and said to me "kinda stinks but I'm excited to have another opportunity to visit..maybe we can turn it into some sort of mission trip too, see what we can help out with while we're there." That man..he's got my heart in his hands.