Imagine ~ Again, A Sign of No Control!

When we started our second adoption, we tossed around the idea of using the newer Federal adoption agency, Imagine. We did this not necessarily because anything was wrong with CAFAC, but because it was another agency to check into that wasn't around when we did Mikiyas' adoption. Referral waits were much quicker, although showing a little slow down. It's a Christian agency, which appealed to us. It also seemed to have a little more flexibilty and less rules. In the end, we ended up staying with CAFAC mainly because we knew the system, how they worked, and they had an 18 year history. We also had gotten to know the people working there, and so it made it easier in knowing what to expect. Sure, a bit longer referral wait, but we felt peace with the decision.

When others were starting their adoptions, I promoted CAFAC and over time have come to feel bad when reading their blogs about the horrible long wait they are having with CAFAC. It's easy to be jealous of others using a different agency when referrals go quickly, even if only by a couple of months. Over time, we also saw Imagine's referral waits were getting closer to that of CAFAC's, as it started to get caught up in the rat race of every other agency involved in Ethiopia, and that many of the same rules CAFAC was using were beginning to be implemented in Imagine. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to insult Imagine, just showing that some of the reasons we were considering Imagine ended up being equal to CAFAC so we would have been no further ahead in the end had we switched to Imagine.

Today, I am glad that we made that decision. It was definitely right for us. And I'm more at peace with having strongly recommended others to use CAFAC to, chose to do just that.

Imagine has gone bankrupt. We have been advised that the children in the transition home in Ethiopia have only 3 days left of food. It is very scarey for the families who have children waiting in that transition home. Two weeks ago I heard Imagine had put a hold on starting new Ethiopian adoptions, and were putting people on a wait list to start. We thought this silly because we personally, would rather be on a wait list for a referral than a wait list to start an adoption. Now we understand why.

So what happens to people waiting for referrals? At this point I can only assume that they have to start over? But what about all the fees they've paid to Imagine, especially since their clients had to pay the full amount upfront [CAFAC requires payment in stages]? Having gone bankrupt, I assume they'll never get a dollar back? What about all the people who have referrals but haven't been through court yet to receive legal guardianship? What about the people who do have legal custody? People usually don't travel until the Visas are done, and as per my last post, we know that can be long and difficult? Where will the children go? So many questions ...

For now, lets join together and pray for these families. For the families you were waiting for referrals, for those waiting for court dates and paper work, and for those waiting to pick up their legal children. They all need prayer ... healing and unity.