Guess what!?! It was almost 5:00 on Friday afternoon and I did one last check to the IAN website before the weekend started. We moved up again! That's FIVE times in one month! When we tell people we are adopting, many ask us "Why Ethiopia?"
When we decided to adopt, we had a few goals in mind. We wanted a program that had young children, would only take a year or so, and was something we could afford without getting a loan. And most importantly, we wanted to adopt a child and give it a happy future. Some countries have very loving foster systems and the children have good health care. There are other countries where orphans come from very heartbreaking situations and their future doesn't look good. Some would starve, contract HIV, become prostitutes or childhood wives, or have no possible school or job opportunities. This is the child we wanted to adopt. We aren't rich and she will probably wear hand-me-downs. But, we can offer food, a warm bed, and goodnight kisses. And, we hope to teach her how much God loves her.
When you start looking at countries to adopt from, there aren't as many as you would think. Many countries are self-sufficient to take care of their own children. Others do not have the government set up to handle all the investigations and court procedures. Here are some of the countries we looked at and why they didn't work out for us:
China - Beautiful children! I would love to visit China because I work for a jewelry company and our factory is here. I love the people and would love to learn more about their country. But right now the wait is SEVEN years! Nuf said.
Russia - This was the original country I wanted to adopt from. We have some friends that adopted four children from here. They are adorable. But you have to spend up to four weeks in the country, possibly two trips, and lots of moolah!
Mexico - This is a very confusing country to adopt from. Each state has their own rules and you could be there for 2-3 weeks or 3-8 weeks. It all depends of if the judge waives the wait period.
Haiti - Haiti is easy to get a referral but uncertain how long after that until you can get custody of your child. After the earthquake, they are expediting some of the cases that were already in process. This might be a good opportunity in the future when they determine which children are true orphans and the ones that are just displaced.
India - must be married for 5 years.
Vietnam - Country has suspended adoptions until a new agreement can be reached.
Liberia - the children are four years and older.
Kazakhstan - This country actually lets you travel and choose which kid you would like to adopt. But this requires two trips and lots of money. Plus, I picked out our last dog, and she is a MESS. I'd be afraid to pick a child. I'll leave this to the agencies with some help from God :)
Guatemala - This country closed due to corruption. We know somebody who has a sweet little girl who's paperwork was not processed before the closing. Very sad that she can't find a way to get that pushed through. Also, my boss's husband has gone there to work with the orphans. There is sooo many in need. There are many families that live at the city dump and try to survive on what they find. I sure hope this country can open again soon. Keep them in your prayers.
Ethiopia is a farely new program, but growing with leaps and bounds. It is stable program that adds new rules all the time to prevent corruption. The children can be under a year, you can choose which gender you would like, there is no limitation to the number of children in your family or how much you make. (As long as you are over poverty level). There is only one week of travel required. And, you could get an escort if you wanted to, but that takes longer. Did I mention, the children are beautiful?!!
I do not know anybody who has adopted from Ethiopia, so this is a big leap of faith for us. But it just feels perfect for our family. We are very blessed with a good agency, a wonderful coordinator (who is meeting her second adopted Ethiopian girl today) and lots of support from other families. We have some friends that have switched from domestic adoption to adopting from Ethiopia. They are using a different agency, so we are hoping we get to travel around the same time. Our girls should be close in age. It will be so much fun to have Ethiopian meals together or get their picture taken in the beautiful Ethiopian dresses!
As we patiently wait on the list, I keep thinking of the hymn "In His Time." I worry a lot about our future daughter and how healthy she will be and how well she will fit in our family. Another adoptive parent reminded us "you will get the child that God wants you to have." This gives me peace.
