Hint 3 and the rest . . .

Okay, the photo in Hint 3 is allegedly of an Ethiopian coptic cross.  I say “allegedly” because while the great people at Etsy have exquisite handmade wares, I’m not so sure about their ability to identify artifacts of a religious nature. Regardless, the significance of the photo is the Ethiopian connection.  Why?  Because I’m adopting from Ethiopia, of course. 

Yes, I know that this is where I started last year.  In fact, it’s where I started over two years ago even before I knew of adoptions in Viet Nam.  For whatever reason, I have been drawn to this country and yet have been too frightened to really commit to adopting from there.  The rumors that Ethiopia will close to singles have been kicking around for longer than I have been actively pursuing an adoption.  In the past year it has limited adoptions to singles, with agencies receiving a quota.  When that originally occurred, some agencies were telling singles that there was a good chance that their adoptions would never occur.  When I heard this, I said no way.  No way am I going to get invested in this process and have to walk away – especially if it’s after I’ve received a referral.  But there were no promises to be made here. Sending countries have every right to place whatever restrictions they like.  We don’t have to agree with them, but we do have to abide by them.  Given my risk-averse nature, I followed my head and not my heart out of that program and into a new program just getting back up and running after a complete overhaul.

I’m sure some adopting from Nepal will assume I’m leaving that program because of how “slow” some people consider the process or the political instability.  I actually never thought Nepal was going to be a quick process.  I talked with a small number of agencies that said that the first families would be home by May of this year.  I never believed them.  I always thought that if I got my dossier in by February perhaps I would have a referral by next spring and a child home by fall.   So, I did not switch because of perceived delays.  I switched because there is a good chance that I can adopt a child from the country that was my first choice.  When I saw the photos of the families who came home from Ethiopia recently, my gut-clenching realization was not that I should have continued on in the process last year so I could have a child home like they did.  It was simply that I was looking at photos of girls who looked like I’ve been imagining my daughter would look like.

There are some additional reasons that I could share, but it appears there is a “journalist” trolling the blogs of families adopting from Nepal and using material on those blogs for stories. Makes me yet again reconsider going private.

So, there you have it.  I went and got my police letter today, which was my last third party document I still needed for my dossier.  I was almost euphoric when they gave it to me, feeling the same sort of excitement I felt when I was completing Oscar’s dossier.  I think many of us who have already been through a difficult adoption process may be prone to having our hopes and optimism tempered (or crushed) by all we have experienced and learned.  I’m just happy that that hasn’t diminished my excitement yet.  It’s going to be a very long time before I get a referral, so I’m going to sit back and enjoy my time as a family of two for the time being.

July 3, 2009 - Posted by Oscar and Etta's mom | Adoption, Africa, Ethiopia, Nepal