Adoption Rollercoaster

Adoptive families often refer to the process as an emotional roller-coaster, just like any other major event in your life. If you remember back when we started this journey we had to adjust to the idea of either making two trips or one long trip. We are now in our final week countdown until we leave for Ethiopia and we are so very excited to think about staying in this beautiful and amazing country for two months (give or take). Looking back now at our journey over the last year, we can't imagine not staying in her birth country for this extended period of time. We are prepared for the unexpected and unknowns, but we love the fact of being able to tell our daughter that we truly embraced her culture and absorbed every experience while we were there!

So the latest news is that MOWA (ministry of women's affairs) is going to decrease the number of cases they process from 50 to 5 per day in attempt to further examine the cases to make sure the case they are reviewing is accurate and ethical. Although we have confidence in our agency and orphanage's ethics, just like any system in the world, unfortunately there is going to be some corruption somewhere. That is why it was so important for us to do the research to pick the right agency for us! Often in the adoption community rumors spread like wildfire and so now there are rumors about Ethiopian adoptions shutting down or slowing down significantly. Not only does this cause stress on the prospective adoptive parents during their process, "what does this mean for me", but we can't help but think of all the orphans (who are truly orphans) who are left behind without families. What we need to remind ourselves is that the best interest of these beautiful orphans should be the priority, despite our heartache, and the courts need to make decisions that will protect these children. Some also feel that MOWA might be making this change in the number of cases reviewed due to their increased work load and needing additional staff to process the cases. There has been an emergency campaign started to "help support the right of Ethiopian children to a safe, permanent and loving family."

We know the orphanage does their best to provide the needed care to these beautiful children, but we also know the love we can give our child and our ability to meet their needs! As we have always said, in a perfect world adoption wouldn't be necessary, but this isn't reality and the reality for us is that we love our daughter, her country and feel so privileged to be on this journey. We also feel in our hearts that Baby M was destined to be our daughter, and that she just found a different way into our family. Everyone has their own view on adoption, domestic vs international..etc...but for us we are right where we are suppose to be in this journey of love and life!

As we get ready to depart for Ethiopia this weekend we are reminded once again, that we are not in control of our destiny but we are in control of our attitude and ability to remain positive around the "unknowns." We feel good about moving forward, and despite maybe staying longer in country we don't feel that this will stop our adoption process (but since this is all over the adoption community we felt that we needed to address it). This situation with MOWA will spark even more rumors about how this will impact the process and view of Ethiopian adoption, so we would encourage you all to truly research adoptions in Ethiopia if you want the facts.

As a very wise adoption buddy has said "Time to put up your hands and just enjoy the ride."

"Life is filled with so many exciting twists and turns. Hop off the straight and narrow whenever you can and take the winding paths. Experience the exhilaration of the view from the edge. Because the moments spent there, that take your breath away, are what makes you feel truly alive." ~Unknown Author