Angry. Questioning. Heartbreak. Anxiety. Hope.

I know that many friends/family have been sharing our concern regarding the recent developments this week in Ethiopia. As promised, I am keeping you as informed as possible regarding this tumultuous process.

Needles to say, it has been a very difficult week. This adoption has been like taking 1 step forward then 5 steps back, fall down, and have a herd of rhino tromp around and then crap on us.

We are feeling the gamut of emotions:
1) Angry. Why do we keep picking countries (Taiwan and then Ethiopia) that end up putting up road blocks? We whole heatedly support the tightening of reigns for ensuring ethical adoptions, because the only thing worse than not being able to adopt a child is to adopt one that was not really an orphan; however, we feel MOWA's mandate is extreme (reducing ET adoption by 90% and extending our adoption for another year... at least) and that there has to be more proficient and faster ways to find these children homes. We are still talking about millions of legitimate orphans that are now sitting in sub-par orphanages.
2) Questioning. Why, we ask, do these reform roadblocks keeps dropping into our path? Many people we know that started the same time (or even after us) now have long had their children home. Why is this? Is this a "sign" that it is not be meant to be?
3) Heartbreak. This week, Miss M has been steadfast in coming into my room after school to share her stories that revolve around growing up as a girl on the streets of Addis Ababa (ET capital city). My heart now literally aches to give one of these children a home.
4) Anxiety. How long do we continue? We need to drop another wad of money in August to renew some documents. Do we pull out then? Do we continue forever? When do we draw the line? Will our hearts always feel that hole of regret if we give up now?
5) Hope. The letter I am attaching was issued yesterday by the National Council of Adoption. Maybe a better solution will be made and MOWA's policy will be retracted or reworked. Maybe. Hard to still hold on to that optimism, but we're trying, because that is all we have today.

"At the end of February 2011, the Ethiopian Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs (MOWA) issued an unexpected directive indicating a dramatic reduction in the number of intercountry adoption cases to be processed by the Ministry. This directive is scheduled to go into effect by Thursday, March 10, 2011.
In 2010, more than 2,500 Ethiopian children were adopted by American families. Should MOWA implement the recent directive as indicated, the number of adoptions from Ethiopia could fall as much as 90%, although the full impact of MOWA’s decision is unknown and cannot be predicted at this time.
This ruling follows a year of significant progress in improving and increasing transparency in the Ethiopian adoption process. Following several safeguards enacted last year, NCFA’s confidence in the Ethiopian adoption system has grown significantly. Additional protective measures may still be necessary, however, to increase global confidence in the process. MOWA’s recent decision appears to have surprised many Ethiopian government officials, as well as the Central Adoption Authorities in the U.S., Italy, and Spain. Many within the adoption community, including the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), members of Congress, child welfare officials in many countries, and the National Council For Adoption (NCFA), have criticized the MOWA directive as unfair, unnecessary, and harmful to children in Ethiopian orphanages who await permanent families.
NCFA is grateful for the swift action taken by the U.S. Department of State, led by Special Advisor Ambassador Susan Jacobs, to communicate with Ethiopian adoption officials in an effort to reach a favorable resolution that will serve the best interests of abandoned and orphaned children in Ethiopia.
“We are encouraged by the advocacy taking place behind the scenes and hopeful that these collective efforts will bring clarity and an immediate adjustment to this unjust and unnecessary ruling, which has the potential to negatively impact so many vulnerable children,” said NCFA president and CEO Chuck Johnson.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that personnel changes within MOWA have resulted from the rogue handling of this decision, and because of this, NCFA is hopeful that new leadership will offer opportunities for better communication and a swift resolution to this looming crisis. NCFA respectfully calls on MOWA to amend its recent harmful directive and ensure that subsequent reforms reflect a comprehensive child welfare policy that retains the option of intercountry adoption for Ethiopian orphans while ensuring policies and procedures that serve the best interests of children."