We received our Country Update today. It brought us mixed news.
We were thrilled to read that there is now 44 adoption agencies from around the world working in Ethiopia. The number of adoptions is growing as a result of wonderful experiences / stories being shared. Children are apparently doing exceptionally well once home with their forever families. Further, the wait times between receiving a proposal and travelling to pick up your child is decreasing. It is now on average a four to five month wait, which is 1/3 to 1/2 of what it was.
The unfortunate news is that with the increase in Ethiopian adoptions, the wait time for a child proposal has increased. What once was four to six months is now eleven to fourteen months. So yes, it is mixed emotions that we feel tonight. It is so wonderful knowing that more children will be adopted, however, it also just means that all of us waiting parents are now waiting longer.
We are still hopeful though and praying that the pace will pick up again. It has also been mentioned that the changes within the Ministry responsible for international adoptions, as well as changes in the paperwork for declaring children available for adoption has contirbuted to the slow down. Perhaps, now that these changes have been completed, referral times will return to what they have been in the past.
It was also noted that a new movie has come out this year. Live and Become. In 1984, hundreds of thousands of Africans from twenty-six countries hit by famine amass in refugee camps in Sudan. Israel and the United States undertake a huge rescue operation [Operation Moses] to transport thousands of Ethiopian Jews [Falashas] to Israel. A mother makes her nine year old son pretend he’s Jewish so as to save him from famine and death. Arriving in Israel, he is declared an orphan. He is adoted by a French Sephardic family who live in Tel Aviv. Although he grows up and thrives as an adoptive son of a loving family, he is plagued by two big secrets: He is neither a Jew nor an orphan, just an African boy who survived.
He discovers love, Western culture, and Jewish faith along with racism and war in the Occupied Territories. He becomes Jewish, Israeli, French and Tunisian – a true Tower of Babel. But he never forgets his real mother, who remained behind in a camp and who he secretly and stubbornly dreams of finding again one day.
We were thrilled to read that there is now 44 adoption agencies from around the world working in Ethiopia. The number of adoptions is growing as a result of wonderful experiences / stories being shared. Children are apparently doing exceptionally well once home with their forever families. Further, the wait times between receiving a proposal and travelling to pick up your child is decreasing. It is now on average a four to five month wait, which is 1/3 to 1/2 of what it was.
The unfortunate news is that with the increase in Ethiopian adoptions, the wait time for a child proposal has increased. What once was four to six months is now eleven to fourteen months. So yes, it is mixed emotions that we feel tonight. It is so wonderful knowing that more children will be adopted, however, it also just means that all of us waiting parents are now waiting longer.
We are still hopeful though and praying that the pace will pick up again. It has also been mentioned that the changes within the Ministry responsible for international adoptions, as well as changes in the paperwork for declaring children available for adoption has contirbuted to the slow down. Perhaps, now that these changes have been completed, referral times will return to what they have been in the past.
It was also noted that a new movie has come out this year. Live and Become. In 1984, hundreds of thousands of Africans from twenty-six countries hit by famine amass in refugee camps in Sudan. Israel and the United States undertake a huge rescue operation [Operation Moses] to transport thousands of Ethiopian Jews [Falashas] to Israel. A mother makes her nine year old son pretend he’s Jewish so as to save him from famine and death. Arriving in Israel, he is declared an orphan. He is adoted by a French Sephardic family who live in Tel Aviv. Although he grows up and thrives as an adoptive son of a loving family, he is plagued by two big secrets: He is neither a Jew nor an orphan, just an African boy who survived.
He discovers love, Western culture, and Jewish faith along with racism and war in the Occupied Territories. He becomes Jewish, Israeli, French and Tunisian – a true Tower of Babel. But he never forgets his real mother, who remained behind in a camp and who he secretly and stubbornly dreams of finding again one day.
1 comment:
Hi Sheri,
I understand you feeling down about the wait times. It does seem so long, but that is only a guess...it may not be that long in reality.
Hang in there..it will be so worth it!
Lesley
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