Irelyn is exited about the Adoption Orientation

My head is spinning from all of the information I learned last night.  If you thought I was overwhelmed before you should just see me now!  The social workers say to take it one step at a time.  The problem with that is there are a lot of steps that need to be done at the same time!  So here is some of the information I found out.

The waiting time for a young child in Ethiopia is about two years right now. This can of course change at any time but it does not look like it will be getting shorter anytime soon.  This is longer than we expected.  Ethiopia's program is very stable but they are making some changes due to some sketchy adoptions that have gone on in the past.  Learning this just makes us more anxious to get on the list to adopt as soon as possible.  This is the only part we can really control.  After that it is a waiting game.  Getting on the list includes applying, completing a home study, and submitting our Dossier(resume) to Ethiopia.

We have most of the money to to apply and go through the home study.  There are some surprise expenses like doctor visits and finger printing fees which are $69 a person.  We have to each get it done three times!  We will then have to come up with the money to pay the agency for their services.  There fee is $3950. At this time we will have to also pay $840 to the federal government to request that a foreign child come into the U.S. We will then submit our Dossier to the adoption agency in Ethiopia which is $7000.

After we pay these charges we will have a little over a year to come up with the rest.  We are working hard to raise the initial $11,790 so that we can start the long wait of a referral of a child.  We would really appreciate your prayers for Gods provision and timing.  If God puts it on your heart we would be very blessed by financial support.  Malachi's donation website is posted on my blog if God leads you in that direction.

https://www.wepay.com/donations/167161