Changes a brewin'

I'm writing this post to let everyone know about some major changes to our adoption process. The first is that yesterday, when AGCI staff in Ethiopia went to court; as they normally do on behalf of the adopting parents to finalize the adoption; a notice was posted that the Ethiopian government is now requiring that all adopting parents make 2 trips to Ethiopia before bringing the child home, instead of the now required one, effective immediately. When will this second trip have to happen? Well we won't be certain of that until probably next week, but there are 2 options.
1) Currently power of attorney is given to the staff in Ethiopia to act on our behalf after a referral for a child has been accepted. This is so that they may prepare and sign the adoption contract that starts the court appointment process. We might have to travel here and sign the contract in person (would be within a few weeks of accepting the referral).
2) Currently the same power of attorney allows the AGCI staff in Ethiopia to appear before court on our behalf to have the adoption finalized. We might have to appear in person at court.
So what does this mean for us? It will be the added expense of a second trip to Ethiopia planned in a very short time frame. Double the airfare and hotel costs. It will also mean having to take off of work for this second trip which both Bryan and I will have to be present for. Due to these factors you will notice that the fundraising thermometer goal has been raised to reflect the additional cost. Please continue to pray that God will provide for this financial set back. This also could mean an additional 6-8 weeks added to the timeline.
Why is this happening? Our agency told us that in the recent past appx 41 adoptions were revoked by adopting parents (not through our agency, but through all agencies in Ethiopia). Now these were for various reasons such as; the age of child was found to be different when the adopting parents traveled to pick them up, the medical condition was different and so on. The important thing to remember here is that in Ethiopia, once a family accepts a referral, if they back out of it that child can not ever be adopted by anyone else. They will be in an orphanage the rest of their child life. Ethiopia has decided that this second trip to confirm seeing your child before they approve the adoption will solve the problem. It is to protect both the family and the child.
Now, this isn't all bad. What are the positives? Well, we get to see our child in person and hold them shortly after referral. We get a second opportunity to connect with the culture of Ethiopia. This will hopefully also make the trip home and transition into our family easier since the child will have had some previous contact with us.
Ok, that's the first major change, the second one is that the U.S. may now require a process called an orphan investigation for Ethiopian adoptions. This one is not as dramatic. It would probably only be required if there were gaps in information on the orphan that needed to be filled in. Our agency doesn't expect this to add much time to the process. It is a process currently in place for many other countries and runs pretty smoothly.
So, why is this happening? This is in response to a report that CBS News did on Ethiopian adoptions that made it look like many of them might be scams where families were recruited and paid for giving up their children. This, of course, is not AT ALL an accurate reflection on adoptions in Ethiopia. This also is a problem that seems to be contained to one specific orphanage and at the momement it seems that the U.S. is only requiring this additional process for that orphanage and the one and only agency that is being investigated for this. This is NOT a problem that our agency has, nor does our agency use that orphanage.
Well, that's the information I have at this time. Please pray that our adoption continues to run smoothly. Please pray specifically right now for delays happening with our FBI Background checks. Apparently they have some back log that is really slowing things down. Thank you all for your continued support. Thank God we know that He is sovereign and in control of everything, even when things seem to be going crazy.

-Amory