Friday, May 23, 2008

Changing Directions, New Look

A new look is called for since we are changing directions. We are still adopting, but after the past few weeks, we've weighed our various options and don't see much of a likelihood that Vietnam will continue adoptions after September 1st and since there is no chance that we will get a referral before that time, we have decided that we must change countries. Our two best options were Ethiopia and domestic here in the United States.



With domestic, you are chosen by the birth mother to parent the child. The waiting list for a healthy white infant could be 2 years or more, it really depends on the birth mother if they choose you or not and there are so many other adoptive parents hoping to be chosen. We would be open to a child of any race or mixture of races; now the expected wait there maybe a year or so (much less than for a Caucasian infant), but the birth mother still has to choose you. There's so many legal loopholes, too; although the agency that we looked at has never had a birth parent take the child back after the child was living in your home, there's always a first time for everything.



With Ethiopia, the current wait is expected to be 6 to 11 months. At this time many people are getting referrals at our agency at about 5-6 months after sending in the dossier. Our current agency works with Ethiopia and gets referrals quite often. Just in the past week there were 8 referrals. Some of our money would transfer over to the new program, not a lot but some of it would. The cost for each of the programs would be similar, since the domestic agency is on a sliding scale when it comes to family. All in all though, they really aren't that expensive compared to some other domestic adoption programs.



So what have we decided, you're asking. Well, we are still waiting for approval from the agency, but we've decided to go with Ethiopia and to stay with CHI as our adoption agency. I'm not sure what is taking so long for approval, but it looks like everything will be a go. We'll need to have our homestudy updated, change over our 171-H to Ethiopia with the Citizenship and Immigration and work on a new dossier.

25 comments:

Joe Raschke said...

This post is awesome news, You guys have been in our prayers, you will have a great family soon!

Anonymous said...

You have been and will continue to be in my prayers with your new journey. Many, many blessings for you guys.

Anonymous said...

i am so glad you made a decision!! i think you will find peace with this program...i know i have never been happier!

best wishes :)

Unknown said...

Congratulations! I can't wait to see what is in store for your family!

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy you have a new plan. I know that soon you will be holding your beautiful baby! Thinking of you and sending my love
Diane Castellon

grimmfour said...

Thank you for leaving a comment on my "Road to Abigail Blog". I'm sorry it's takin me so long to reply. I DO know the heartbreak you have endured these past months. I know at times it doesn't seem to make sense. Hopefully, the new road you and may others are choosing will lead us all to the children God intended us to have. I will keep you in my prayers!! Lori Grimm

Unknown said...

sounds like you've made a good choice. You may even bring a child home much sooner than you would have with Vietnam.

I hope all the changes happen quickly and you are soon on your way.

Michelle said...

I am sorry Vietnam did not work out for you (and so many others.) But I am happy you have began a journey in another direction that suites your family. I wish you nothing but the best and am anxious to watch your new journey unfold.

Anonymous said...

Ditto to all of the well-wishes above. This is an exciting move for your family and I can't wait to read the next chapter of your adoption story! (Love the new blog design, too :)). ~Gina

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on making a decision to go a new direction! And I love the new look!

dwayne and melanie said...

Katherine, I look forward to following your journey! I know it was a hard decision. We are still faithful that we will find our Kaylee in Vietnam. I can't wait to see what God has in store for you.
Melanie

M and M Nichols said...

Congrats on your decision. Where the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window! I look forward to following your journey!

Amanda said...

I know it must not have been easy to make this decision, but I hope that you end up being at peace with it.

I have to say I am overjoyed with our progress in CHI's Ethiopia program.

While you know better than anyone that international adoption has uncertainties, I think that many of these uncertainties can be dealt with in a healthy manner if you're kept informed by the agency.

I hope that you get your approval soon (I don't know what's taking so long either!)...
but, I'm happy to see that you're moving forward with the adoption from Ethiopia.

K said...

Best of luck to you on your new path. I am happy for you and I hope it goes quickly and smoothly for you!

LaLa said...

So happy you have found your direction....continue to think of you and all the families affected!

Anonymous said...

I'm excited for you! We made the switch from Vietnam to Ethiopia in April, and I'm so encouraged by all the referrals that have come just since we've been in the program. Good luck!

Dawn said...

Kathryn - Best wishes for your new journey, how lucky the little one will be to have you both. We were not strong enough to continue with adoption, since we left the CHI VN program, in April. Not sure if we will persue another adoption or foster care; but I am so pleased to see others continuing on. Good Luck - Dawn, in PA

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your new journey! I can't wait to follow along and I'm sure we will still find a way to meet up, even if it isn't through an FCVN event. And the new blog look is great! I hope everything moves very quickly and smoothly for you two!

Jess said...

Congrats on your decision! You have been on my mind whenever I heard about Vietnam at work...I am happy you have chosen a new direction and I hope this goes smoothly for you.

Karin and Rob said...

Congratulations on starting your journey to Ethiopia! We are excited to follow along, and hope the process goes quickly and smoothly for you.

LISA said...

Welcome to the Ethiopia program!! We are waiting for our referral of siblings.Our wait will be 25 weeks tomorrow.Hoping it comes SOON!
Are you wanting a boy or girl?

Melissa said...

Kathryn and Kevin -

So glad to hear from you and that you have made a decision.

I am ever faithful in reading your blog but not so great at posting. Pleae forgive me and I will try to do better!

I continue to pray for you and your little one waiting for you - may the decisions come swiftly!

Melissa

Stacie said...

Good news! I'll be praying for you guys as you make the transition. Ethiopia is amazing! (Yes, biased :) Feel free to email if you have any questions!

Becky and Keith said...

This is such exciting news! I've heard wonderful things about adopting from Ethiopia! Congratulations on your decision!

Anonymous said...

Wow, Kathryn, congratulations! I'm still catching up on blogs and am so happy to hear this. I can imagine how disappointed you are about VN but am so glad to hear you're pursuing EE. I wish you all the best as your journey takes a new route. BTW, I just realized you're not on my blog roll. Can I add you?