Changes

Ethiopia is going through a bit of change. They made 2 major announcements last week. The first was the country is now doing a more thorough investigation into the orphan status of the kids. Apparently a news show did a story claiming Ethiopian moms are being approached to give up their kids by adoption agencies. No one seems to know where that claim came from, but its great that they are looking into the accusations. However, it could result in more delays in the process.

The second change is huge. Adoptive parents are now required to make 2 trips to Ethiopia. In most countries, adoptive parents need to be present at the court hearing. Ethiopia did not make that a requirement, until now. We would travel to court, meet our girl, become official (hopefully) then leave her. We would fly back in 2 or 3 months to pick her up and bring her home. It doesn't sound like their is a lot of information regarding this decision right now. Our agency is trying to get details from their Ethiopian office, but communication is often difficult and slow. While we are waiting for more details, we will examine the impact this will have on our family and we'll keep you posted.