Waiting for Baby

The sad reality is that it is looking like the wait is going to be longer for baby #2 than it was with Annie. We're over 7 months into the process now with no referral and Annie's entire adoption took one year, almost to the day.

I spoke with our adoption coordinator yesterday and she said that referrals are very slow right now. The adoption process in Ethiopia is changing, therefore it takes longer to prepare a child to be matched with a family. For instance, the government now requires that a baby that was found abandonded somewhere spend 2 months in an orphanage before paperwork for adoption can even be started. A lot of the changes are good and necessary, but it seems that the US Embassy is figuring out what the new requirments will be as they go. They have not set one standard for everyone yet, which can cause headaches and delays for some families.

I have to keep reminding myself that ultimately God is the one who brings families together and he has already chosen our baby and is taking care of our little one as we wait. I know that we will bring our child home at the right time. Adoption is a journey and there is so much to learn, struggle through, and grow from along the way. So even though I am sad that I will have to wait longer to hold my sweet baby, I know that I will look back with certainty that I wouldn't have had it any other way.