In August 2007 we filed our initial paperwork for adoption from Ethiopia with Christian World Adoption (CWA). The first big task was our home study. We initially chose and agency in Akron. We filled out the paperwork - all of it and kept having issues getting a firm price. It changed every time we called. Finally we sent it in and 4 days later it was returned. They "no longer did international home studies" in 4 days they seemed to change their minds. It was so weird.
This meant we wasted 6 weeks with this agency. So we had to start again. Next we got connected with Building Block Adoption Services, which is actually closer to us. This process took longer than we'd hoped but we finished the home study and dossier in April and mailed everything off for certification.
The certification process is quite the deal 1) notarize, 2) county signs off on notary's signature, 3) state secretary signs off on county's signature, 4) Secretary of State (in DC) signs off on state secretary's signature, 5) Ethiopian Embassy signs off on Secretary of State's signature. Then FINALLY all the paperwork was sent to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
To this point we'd spent about $8,000 and borrowed about $11,000, but we still needed to raise about $8,000 (we estimated at that time).
In June we received a referral for a little boy, Abel Alemeyhu. He was precious! Born around the first of February, 2008 (in Ethiopia, birth certificates virtually don't exist, they are not a paperwork society, so we only have an estimate on a birth date for Eli). We accepted the referral and ended up with our first court date on July 30. Then came the frustration.
The July 30 court date was delayed. The Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) requested some additional paperwork. The worst part was the courts would be closed from August 6 - September 29 for the rainy season. So, our next court date would not be until Oct 13.
In the meantime it was drawn to our attention that Abel (Elias) head circumference was measuring large. So, we went to see an International Adoption Specialist (pediatric doctor) in Cleveland. Because the Ultrasound had come back normal, they weren't too concerned. But they did request that an MRI and CT scan occur at some point.
More bad news on October 13. The court date was delayed again, until November 13. So we scheduled the CT scan and MRI. The CT scan revealed that Elias has hydrocephalus. We anguished over this. This diagnosis could mean brain damage. We were finally able to get the doctor in Cleveland to talk to the doctor in Ethiopia. They decided since there was no abnormal swelling to wait and see what to do.
We were told that Ethiopian hospitals were not a place one wants to be. However, our doctor did offer to write a medical need letter to try and speed up getting Eli home. Our case worker at CWA thought it might be helpful and so allowed the letter to be written. This also required an amendment to our home study, allowing us to adopt a child with special medical needs.
We had to convince our social worker that we understood the risks of hydrocephalus and that we had carefully thought through the decision to go ahead and adopt Eli. It is hard to say really, but I felt that God had led us to this child and even if he had issues, God would give us the grace and wisdom to be able to handle them. However, in my heart I felt that Eli was going to be okay. I don't know exactly why I felt this but I did.
So, at this moment (remember this is a journal entry from 11/3/08) we wait. We wait for the letter and amendment. We wait for the court hearing. We wait for our trip to pick up our son. If the November court date goes through, we will pick up our son over Christmas, unless the medical letter can speed things up for us.
We are so anxious over his health, over the courts, over our trip. We are also worried, if the adoption is delayed until after January 1, 2009, our tax situation could be very bad. Because of the adoption tax credit we are expecting a BIG refund and so have not worried about the additional tutoring (tutor.com) that I have done. You see, taxes are not withheld on my tutoring and I have made a fair bit tutoring this year. All this could go very badly if the court date does not go through.
The bright spot has been the gifts of others toward our adoption. The church we attend (and Jeff works at) raised $600. We received gifts of $150, $350, $500, $500, $2000, and $5000 from close family members. We now have enough money to finish it. The trip, the VISA, readoption, and post-placement reports.
We are in prayer constantly that God be with Eli, his health, the courts, our hearts, and He brings us together SOON!
No comments:
Post a Comment