The big obstacle that we are facing right now is court closure. In Ethiopia, the courts close for the months of August and September, so while families can still get referrals during this time, they cannot pass through court and travel to get their children. During our agency's last conference call, we were told that if a referral was received by the end of May or the first week of June then a court date should be obtained by the court closure but if any later than that, then we would most likely not be able to go to court until sometime in October or November. With a court date in the fall, it would mean not traveling until very late this year to pick-up our child. My heart aches with the thought that we could get our referral even next week and have to wait all of June, July, August, September, and some or all of October to hold my baby - that's 4 or 5 months that we will be missing out on her life! I cannot even begin to tell you how much I have pleaded with God that we would not get caught-up in the shutdown! In my mind and heart, I know that God's timing is perfect, but the message is not getting to my aching arms who want to hold and rock my daughter!
What can you do to help right now? Please pray for the following things:
- Ethiopian government to complete the investigation of abandoned children so the children are protected and true orphans can be adopted
- Our agency staff at America World who match children with families and prepare all the tedious paperwork
- The Judges so that they can work efficiently and have a heart for orphans
- All the families who are currently waiting for court, to travel, receive a referral, and paperchasing
- Our child - that she will feel loved, have a full tummy, and be healthy
- Our child's parents - they are making the ultimate sacrifice of love
- Our family - peace as we continue to wait
Of course, the desire of my heart is that we get a call tomorrow and we successfully pass through court BEFORE the closure at the end of July! God tells us to pray specifically, so that's what I'm definitely doing!
The number of people following our journey and praying for us is amazing - believe me when I write that we feel your prayers! Thank you!
An Explanation of Court:
After the above-post posted, I received some private inquiries about how court works, so here's the best explanation I can provide.
Once a child is matched with a family (this is called a referral), the call is made to the family to determine whether or not the family accepts the referral. If an acceptance is made, then paperwork is prepared for court. Court is held in Ethiopia but we are not present. A representative from our agency attends court on our behalf and requests that the child be placed in our home. If the judge finds the evidence that the child is truly an orphan (meaning the parents are deceased or the child was abandoned and no family has come forward to care for the child), then the judge grants the adoption - this is called "passing court".
Sometimes families have multiple court dates because every judge is different and wants different paperwork and often the necessary info varies from case to case. Currently, about 30% of the cases must be heard more than once before the child is adopted. Frequently, the judge requests that if the family members are known, that at least 1 family member must come to court and testify that no one is capable of caring for the child. Many times, people have to travel for hours or even days to come to court, so this can be a rather time sensitive issue. Also, sometimes the judge wants to hear testimony from the police officer who found an abandoned child.
Once the judge grants the adoption, then we will be the legal parents of our child. It is at this point that we can post pictures of our child. We cannot post identifying pictures of our child prior to court passing because the child is not legally ours until the judge "signs on the dotted line" per se. We will travel about 2-4 weeks after passing court. Once we arrive back in the US, then we will begin the procedure of readopting our child so that she can have a US birth certificate and we can change her name, if we want to.
