New Policy

Due to increasingly negative views toward adoption in Ethiopia a new policy has been set in place. Adoptive parents are no longer able to take custody of their child until after the coffee ceremony which takes place the day prior to the family's departure. If the family is staying in a guest house at the orphanage then they can take custody any time after arrival, whenever it feels appropriate for the family and the child. Apparently there has been quite a bit of negative publicity generated about international adoption by families staying in hotels, not to mention the recent nightmare in Chad which resulted in the Republic of Congo completely shutting down all international adoptions.

We're hoping to stay at Children's Hope Internationale's House of Hope (their family guest house) while we're in Ethiopia, however this may not be an option depending on the number of traveling families at the time. I must say that it would be heartbreaking to meet our son or daughter on day one and then not be able to hold him/her in our arms all day every day until we return to NY. On the other hand, my husband and I are dedicated to ensuring that a proper process is followed, no rules are broken, and that everything possible is being done for the children who will remain in Ethiopia. After all, this is about keeping the best interest of the Habesha in mind and ensuring that absolutely every step is being taken to preserve their culture and remove the possibility of illegal child trafficking and other horrendous activities.

I guess we'll add "room at the guest house" to our ever expanding list of things to hope for. We were actually already really hoping for this, however now it's been moved further up the list. We're also hoping that people will stop being ignorant, arrogant, and self-righteous to the extent that policies like this have to be created in the first place.