Trepidation

I find myself at a bit of a crossroads.  I’m almost finished with my dossier for Ethiopia.  When I submit this to my agency (sans homestudy, which I’ve already discussed how that is holding me back – today’s news was that they also want a urine sample – this after I’ve had every blood test imaginable done and the most thorough physical of my life), I’ll pay the first big agency fee.  I think we’ve seen how I’m not so thrifty, but writing the agency and international fee checks are a big deal to me.  What concerns me is that for a long time there have been rumors about how the rules might be changing there vis-a-vis singles.  Nothing official has been announced, and some agencies scoff at the rumors.  However, I’ve just adopted from VN, where hundreds of PAPs are out thousands of dollars because of the shutdown.

Here’s the thing.  Adoption agencies provide a service; they don’t provide a guarantee of a child.  I know that; I appreciate it; I agree with the statement.  Adoption is not the same as buying a commodity and my case manager is not a saleswoman.  The agency is simply helping me through the process.  But I must say that I’m feeling not a little trepidation here.  Part of this is simply what just happened in Vietnam (VN closed its doors to adoptions by Americans leaving hundreds of people without children after paying thousands of dollars). Before last fall I figured the chance that someone might be in a position like that was almost nil. Not exactly the case.

So, I’m going to finish up my dossier and wait on my homestudy, hoping that in the next week (I hope) that it takes my agency to finalize the document that there aren’t any rule changes.  Am I walking into a nightmare here?

September 9, 2008 Posted by Oscar and Etta's mom | Uncategorized | 1 Comment