It's rare that I stare at a blank page and type nothing. I am a writer... I fill empty space with words every. single. day. But today, the words I want to write are just angry, hateful words. I literally just spent five minutes staring at this blank page watching the curser blink just trying to find the right way in my mind to describe whats going on in a positive way, but I just can't do it this time. So, here we go.
Our approval has been delayed. The embassy in Ethiopia wants more paperwork.
Without confusing you with a million details that mean nothing to you, ultimately what this means is that Zoe will sit in an orphanage for likely another month or maybe even more considering the holidays are coming up. I was hoping for a first trip in January so she'd be home in February. Now, I have no idea.
If you want to understand what this is like, watch the film STUCK, I believe it's on Netflix right now. THIS is exactly what they are talking about in that film. A defenseless baby (who has able and willing parents waiting to jump on a plane at any moment) sits institutionalized because of paperwork and procedures that excessively lengthen international adoption. This causes kids who have parents waiting for them to sit in orphanages and risk developing severe delays and attachment issues while paperwork is completed and processed. I just want to scream. This process just shouldn't be this hard. I know I always am an advocate for "ethical processes to protect children" and I STILL am, but this new paperwork process (PAIR) is a complete nightmare with documents going from Ethiopia back to the U.S. and back again each time they need something else that they didn't ask for the first time around, it's just asking for problems and issues. I know some people disagree with me here, but for me, it's just ridiculous what I have seen and dealt with throughout this approval process.
You know how many investigating officers I have had since we started our approval process a couple of months ago? Three. You know how many emails I sent to the Embassy in Ethiopia after they had already sent our file to the U.S. but yet they didn't tell me anything in their responses? Three again. You know how long our case sat in the inbox of our 2nd investigating officer at USCIS before someone realized it and we were assigned to someone else? 6 DAYS ( To top that off, the only reason they realized it was because I called and asked about it) That's another 6 days and however long this new paperwork request takes that Zoe will sit, institutionalized. I know they are doing their best with her where she is, but she is 6-months-old and only 12 pounds. Although I am thrilled she has been consistently gaining weight, she's not nearly where she should be, she needs us RIGHT NOW. Not in a month, not two months, like NOW.
But here I sit, watching the snow fall, wishing I was half way around the world.
Thank you so much to our prayer warriors... keep on keepin' on... please.
Until next time...
Our approval has been delayed. The embassy in Ethiopia wants more paperwork.
Without confusing you with a million details that mean nothing to you, ultimately what this means is that Zoe will sit in an orphanage for likely another month or maybe even more considering the holidays are coming up. I was hoping for a first trip in January so she'd be home in February. Now, I have no idea.
If you want to understand what this is like, watch the film STUCK, I believe it's on Netflix right now. THIS is exactly what they are talking about in that film. A defenseless baby (who has able and willing parents waiting to jump on a plane at any moment) sits institutionalized because of paperwork and procedures that excessively lengthen international adoption. This causes kids who have parents waiting for them to sit in orphanages and risk developing severe delays and attachment issues while paperwork is completed and processed. I just want to scream. This process just shouldn't be this hard. I know I always am an advocate for "ethical processes to protect children" and I STILL am, but this new paperwork process (PAIR) is a complete nightmare with documents going from Ethiopia back to the U.S. and back again each time they need something else that they didn't ask for the first time around, it's just asking for problems and issues. I know some people disagree with me here, but for me, it's just ridiculous what I have seen and dealt with throughout this approval process.
You know how many investigating officers I have had since we started our approval process a couple of months ago? Three. You know how many emails I sent to the Embassy in Ethiopia after they had already sent our file to the U.S. but yet they didn't tell me anything in their responses? Three again. You know how long our case sat in the inbox of our 2nd investigating officer at USCIS before someone realized it and we were assigned to someone else? 6 DAYS ( To top that off, the only reason they realized it was because I called and asked about it) That's another 6 days and however long this new paperwork request takes that Zoe will sit, institutionalized. I know they are doing their best with her where she is, but she is 6-months-old and only 12 pounds. Although I am thrilled she has been consistently gaining weight, she's not nearly where she should be, she needs us RIGHT NOW. Not in a month, not two months, like NOW.
But here I sit, watching the snow fall, wishing I was half way around the world.
Thank you so much to our prayer warriors... keep on keepin' on... please.
Until next time...
