14 Days

Late last week I learned that the new special needs list should be approved on October 10.  (Backstory: As of July 11, the country we are hoping to adopt from will only allow children under five to be adopted internationally if they have a sibling over five or a special need on "The List".  HIV is not on the current working list, so we are waiting on the official list to see if we can continue the process to bring our little ones home.)  We are two of many, many parents waiting, praying, and counting the minutes until the new list is made public.


I am personally aware of families hoping to adopt children with HIV (like us), FAS, hydrocephaly, brittle bone disease, and kidney disease. I support our country's efforts to encourage adoption by their own citizens (which, as I understand it, is the stated goal of this list).   I believe that it is Plan A for children to be raised by capable, loving biological parents. In my opinion, domestic adoption is Plan B, and international adoption is Plan C.  Obviously a loving home with parents who speak a familiar language and share a common cultural heritage should enable the smoothest transition possible for an adopted child.  However, the children with the needs I've mentioned above are not often adopted in their own country.


It breaks my heart to think that this law would keep children - who have families that desperately want to bring them home - in an orphanage until they are five years old (or perhaps even longer).  I know the world of adoption is complicated, and the good is often tangled up with the bad.  After two years in this process, my knowledge of international adoption and the way the process works in other countries barely scrapes the surface of all there is to know.  I know my perspective is limited, but my heart breaks for children who suffer because of politics, greed, twisted motives, and selfishness.  


Please pray for those involved in making decisions about which conditions should be on the final list.  Pray that they would put their own agendas aside (whatever those might be) and make decisions based on what is best for these children.  Pray that God would be working to set these orphans in families.  And pray that those of us who are waiting would trust God to care for these children, would have peace in the midst of uncertainty, and would not allow any obstacle to cause us to lose sight of our desire to see precious little ones find their mamas and papas.


Many people have asked me what will happen in 14 days if HIV is added to the list,  My answer: I have no idea! :)  Our country is in the process of transitioning to a new adoption ministry.  That change-over should happen soon and may affect adoptions in unexpected ways.  If our process continues according to what has been typical - I'm not holding my breath for this because it certainly hasn't happened so far! - this is approximately what our timeline will look like...


October 11 - HIV is added to the official special needs list.


Late October/Early November - We travel to EE for our appointment with the SDA (the current adoption entity).  At this appointment, we are officially matched with our child/ren.  (As you may know, some families choose a child to pursue earlier in the adoption process.  However, our country does not make an official match until a family travels and has their appointment with the SDA.  Because of this, we have chosen to wait until our appointment - or at least closer to our appointment - to identify our child/ren.  Let me know if you'd like more clarification about this.)


Late October/Early November - After our appointment with the SDA, we travel to meet our child/ren.  If we decide to continue with our adoption after meeting our child/ren, a court date is scheduled.  This date is usually about two weeks out from a family's first meeting with their child/ren.  We will stay in country for these two weeks, visiting with our child/ren once or twice a day.


Early November - We have our court date and travel home.  (At least Jeremy will travel home at this point.  I have the option of staying but will probably be coming home as well.)  After court, there is a ten-day waiting period before our adoption is finalized.  This waiting period is mostly a formality and not something that I am particularly worried about.


Mid-November - After the ten-day wait, I and a Traveling-Partner-Yet-to-Be-Named (anyone up for a trip to Eastern Europe?) return to our country to pick up our child/ren.  This trip usually takes about 7-10 days and involves a lot of paperwork (passport, visa, embassy stuff) that I don't have all figured out quite yet.


So...there you have it: a possible but not necessarily probable timeline.  Yes, we could be home with our children before my birthday (November 22) or we could encounter any number of new bumps and detours on our journey.


Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support, your valiant attempts to understand all the twists and turns of this journey, and your friendship.  14 days of waiting left - please keep praying!