Now on to more exciting and frightening news. We changed adoption agencies because the old agency told us they 'rarely' get a girl in the age range (2-5) we are looking for. Rarely = never to us. Before we signed up with our new agency I asked if they got girls in that age range and the answer was yes. Anyway, I talked to our Ethiopian Coordinator yesterday and she told me there are 21 people on the toddler girl list (2-4 years), but that 85% of those people are wanting a girl under 36 months. She told me there are NO people waiting for a girl over 4 years. She said our process would move quickly. I got off the phone and freaked out. So . . . I immediately emailed her and asked her "what exactly did you mean by moving quickly?" I mean is that 2 months, 8 months, 15 months???? I have a room to paint and girl clothes to buy and I don't know ONE SINGLE THING about girls. I mean I am one, but I have never raised one. We have a girl dog, but I highly doubt that counts. She emailed me back today saying, "I never, ever guarantee anything when it comes to timing. Things change so quickly in International Adoption, all I can ever do is give you my best guess. That being said, here is my best guess:
1. Finishing the dossier – that one is totally up to you. I had one family take under a week (!), another who is just over a year.
2. Referral – for a child 4 years or more, it could be a few days to a couple of months. You do NOT have to accept a referral until you are ready. You tell me when you’re ready.
3. From the time you accept a referral, it should be between three and four months until you travel for court. Usually you’ll hear when your court date is after 6-8 weeks, and you’ll have that much time before the date arrives. That’s just based on the last several families that have gone through.
4. Between court approval and embassy, it is at least 5 weeks, and can be as much as 8 before we submit your case to embassy. This piece is so complicated, we’ll talk more in depth as you get closer."
Well, I am not very good at math, but I know that on the short side that is about 6/7 months and on the long side it's about 9/10 months. Which is way shorter than 'rarely'. Or the 12 - 18 months we were really expecting. I let Greg know and he reminded me that we had prayed for the process to move quickly. Yes we did. Thankfully he reminded me of that because that reminds me God is in TOTAL control of this whole process. He knows I am a little! freaked out and he will meet me right there.
So, please pray that God would prepare our hearts, our boy's hearts, and our little girls heart for all of this transition and new love. Pray that God would provide the money we need to bring her home. Thank you, friends! Or is it: Thank you friends????
