Riding the Emotional Rollercoaster of Adoption

I am ready to get off of this rollercoaster!

As I posted earlier~ On January 17, the Ethiopian courts officially named us the parents of little Geremu Assefa. All we had to do was wait for the birth certificate and then they would call us with a travel date.
Well, on Wednesday I got a phone call, but it was not what I was expecting. Our adoption agency representative called to tell us there was a problem with our case and that the birth certificate had not arrived and worse case scenario, our child could be declared unadoptable and have to stay in Ethiopia. WHAT IN THE WORLD???? Needless to say, I felt like a ton of bricks had landed on me.

The US Embassy is reinterpreting immigration law concerning orphans coming into the US from foreign countries and it looks like our case is one of those in the mix. We understand that this needs to be done to make sure that international adoptions are ethical and legal but that does not help me feel any better.


What is an Orphan?
Under U.S. immigration law, an orphan is a foreign child who does not have any parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents. An orphan can also be a foreign-born child with a sole or surviving parent who is unable to provide for the child’s basic needs, consistent with the local standards of the foreign sending country, and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption.


If it appears that the child is not eligible for classification as an orphan under the U.S. immigration law, the USCIS will issue a notice of intent to revoke the approval of the orphan petition. When the petitioner receives such notice, he or she is provided an opportunity to submit evidence to overcome the stated grounds for revoking the approval. An Orphan Petition May be Denied if the USCIS determines that the child does not fit the legal definition of “orphan.”


We are very prayful that they will approve the orphan petition and we will get a birth certificate and a travel date in the near future.

Those who read this...keep our family in prayer!

We know God is an AWESOME God and He is faithful to His promises!