Blogging definitely needs to be on my list of not’s at the moment. I have a mile long to do list for school and I have worked more this week. So I am so behind on everything it seems. Did I mention I was on Spring Break? I forgot to because someone forgot to get the break memo around here. Anyways, I stopped long enough to type this quick note. I am getting ready to make a chart to count down the days of school I have left. I am so ready for warm weather and summertime!
When I see these headlines it makes my heart stop a beat. I think of so many more families that have already been on a long journey and these setbacks have to be incredibly tough. It seems as we got stared in this process so many countries had limited, slowed, or closed their adoptions. China has a wait list of years, Korea has been flooded with applications and waits extended, Vietnam closed, Guatemala closed, etc. Ethiopia had been a light for so many and their wait times were not as long as so many. If you read my last blog I mentioned two children from Ethiopia that had been adopted. I hope that they make it to their new family before the below goes into effect. My prayers also go out to all the families that are in the process. May they have peace and hopefully this is resolved soon for the sake of the thousands of children there without homes. I cannot imagine a year into this process being told our door had closed and we would have to start over somewhere or wait longer.
Ethiopia moves to sharply reduce foreign adoptions
NEW YORK – Ethiopia, the No. 2 source of foreign children adopted by Americans, is making changes that could reduce the number of international adoptions by up to 90 percent.
The change, implemented Thursday, has dismayed U.S. adoption agencies and they have launched a petition drive urging Ethiopia to reconsider. The State Department warns that pending applications to adopt from Ethiopia could encounter "significant delays."
The new policy is intended to reduce cases of fraud and corruption. But it marks a dramatic turnaround for a country that — in the eyes of adoption advocates in the U.S. — had been a rare international bright spot in recent years.
According to State Department figures, 2,513 Ethiopian children were adopted by Americans in the 2010 fiscal year, second only to China as a source country.
For all of you that have children warm and safe in their beds tonight or if you just come across this blog please take a moment to sign the attached petition.
Talk to everyone soon!
J
