Wait List Movement

Congratulations to #2 on the baby girl wait list who accepted a referral today! Everyone below #2 moves up one spot!

Wait List Movement

A family on multiple lists accepted a referral today. The following wait lists move:
Everyone below #5 on the Baby Boy wait list move up one spot
Everyone below #1 on the Toddle Boy wait list move up one spot
Everyone below #3 on the Toddler Girl wait list move up one spot
Everyone below #2 on the Sibling list move up one spot

Congratulations!

Wait List Movement

Number One on the infant girl list accepted a referral today! Everyone on the list moves up one spot. Congratulations to the family!

IAN Open House

If you’re in town, or in town for the IAN Fundraising Dinner, please stop by our beautiful new office on Sunday, November 15 between 1-4pm. We’ll serve coffee and cookies, and Abebe will be here, so please feel free to bring your kids along!




Hope to see you there!!!

Movement

Number One on the Toddler Girl list accepted a referral today! Everyone on that list, and everyone below #13 on the Infant Girl list move up one spot!

We need your help!

Please help us make our Fundraising Dinner a success! Copy and paste this image into your email and share

it with family and friends who may be interested in supporting Yergalem, IAN and Ethiopia!

Office Closed, Day 2

The snow storm that hit yesterday has not let up at all. We unfortunately need to close for a second day. All predictions indicate we will be back in the office tomorrow. Again, please contact your coordinator by email or sarah@adoptioninternational.net if you need to speak with someone via the phone.

Thank you for your patience!

OFFICE CLOSED

Due to inclement weather in the Denver area, IAN must close our office today 10/28. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please feel free to email your coordinators and those of us with Internet at home will do our best to respond to you in a timely manner. If you need to speak with someone today, please email sarah@adoptioninternational.net for the contact information.

Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience.

Movement

Number One on the toddler boy list accepted a referral today! Everyone on the toddler boy list and everyone below #2 on the infant boy list moves up one spot!

Congratulations!

Movement

Number One on the siblings list accepted a referral today! The family was on multiple lists, so the following movement takes place:

Everyone below #1 on the sibling list moves up one spot
Everyone below #6 on the infant girl list moves up one spot
Everyone below #1 on the infant boy list moves up one spot
Everyone below #2 on the toddler boy list moves up one spot
Everyone below #1 on the toddler girl list moves up one spot

Congratulations to the family!

Baby Girl List Movement

Number One on the Baby Girl List has accepted a referral today! Everyone on the baby girl list moves up one spot!

Please contact your coordinator if you need an update.

Congratulations!

RSVP TODAY!

With our Silent Auction and Fundraising Dinner just around the corner, we wanted to give you the top ten reasons to send in your RSVP today!

10. Time is ticking: The event is exactly one month from today and the RSVP deadline is November 1st!

9. You’ll be able to try on those dressy clothes before that holiday party in December…

8. The Silent Auction has unique items both from Ethiopia and the US. A weekend stay in Vail, authentic Ethiopian statues and a Golden Rule Travel gift certificate are just some of the items you can expect to bid on.

7. There will be delicious food and wonderful live music!

6. Your coordinator and the rest of the IAN staff will finally have a chance to meet you and your children (ok, this one might be a little selfish on our part).

5. It will be a fun distraction while you wait for the next part of your adoption process

4. You will meet lots of IAN families and their children in all different stages of their adoption.

3. You can be a big part of helping IAN celebrate our 10 year anniversary!

2. You will be supporting Yergalem Hospital- an understaffed hospital with limited resources that serves millions of Ethiopians including the birth families of children who come home to IAN clients.

1. Our Ethiopia facilitator and the director of Sele Enat will both be there!


Please get those RSVPs in! We are so excited for the opportunity to see you all in November.

DOWN SYSTEMS

Hi Families!
Today we are moving offices (just across the hall). This means our phone and Internet systems will be intermittent at best. If you do not hear back from our office today please know that we will get to you as soon as we can. We expect to be up and running by the end of the day. We reccomend following up any phone messages with an email as there is a chance our voicemails will not carry over smoothly with the move.

Thank you and we are sorry for any incvonvenience!

Infant Boy List

Number 2 on the infant boy list accepted a referral today! Everyone below #2 on the list moves up one spot. Congratulations to the happy family!

Wait List Movement

Number One on the Infant Girl Wait List accepted a referral today! Everyone on the list moves up one spot!

Also- for those of you in Colorado, don't forget to check out the First Fridat Event at Optique of Denver (1580 Blake Street).See artwork from children of Sele Enat, experience authentic Ethiopian food and music, witness a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, see photos of Steve and Denise Livingston's journey of bringing their son, Gierma home from Ethiopia. Staff from IAN will be on hand to promote our Ethiopian fund raising event on November 14th and provide info on our adoption programs. Please come on out to support IAN and the Livingston Family!

Change to Court Opening Date

Due to a restructuring, the courts have postponed their opening date to October 12, not October 7th as was announced yesterday. We apologize for any confusion.

Ethiopia Updates

We just received word from our facilitator in Ethiopia that the courts will be opening back up on October 7th 2009. This means that we will not be assigned new court dates until after October 7th.

Also- our staff in Ethiopia has confirmed that the US Embassy is now requiring all documents to be submitted 2 weeks prior to an Embassy Date. This means that travel will now be a minimum of 8 weeks after passing court as it takes six week to collect all necessary documents for the embassy appointment.

Please let your coordinator know if you have any questions.

First Friday

Please Click the Picture Below to see details about the First Friday event on October 2nd!

Wait List Movement!

Number 1 on the toddler girl and 5+ girl lists has accepted a referral! Everyone on both of these lists move up one spot! Congratulations!

Toddler Girl List Movement

Number 3 on the toddler girl list has chosen to come off of that particlar wait list. Everyone below #3 on the toddler girl list moves up one spot.

More Movement

Number One on the Toddler Boy list accepted a referral today!

Normally we would say that everyone moves up one spor, but at this time there are no other families on the toddler boy list. If you are interested in a toddler boy it is the perfect time to get your dossier in!

Movement

#1 on the baby girl wait list accepted a referral today- they were on multiple lists. One family also chose to go off of the toddler girl wait list. Thus, the following wait list movement takes place:
Everyone Below #1 on the infant girl list moves up one spot
Everyone Below #1 on the sibling list moves up one spot
Everyone Below #2 on the toddler girl list moves up one spot. Everyone below #4 on the toddler girl list moves up two spots.

As always please call the office if you have any questions!

Referral Accepted!

#1 on the toddler girl list accepted a referral today! Everyone on that list moves up one spot.

Wait List Change

Number one on the baby boy list took themselves off of the list for personal reasons (they are having a baby!). Everyone on the baby boy list moves up one spot.

MORE MOVEMENT!

Two more referrals were accepted today! Multiple lists move!

Infant Girl- Everyone below #1 moves up one spot
Infant boy- Everyone below #2 moves up one spot
Sibling- Everyone below #2 moves up one spot

...more movement

Two families accepted referrals today! They were both on multiple lists. The following lists have changed:

Everyone below # 3 on baby boy moves up one spot
Everyone between #2 and #6 on baby girl move up one spot. Everyone below #6 on baby girl moves up 2 spots!
Everyone below #2 on toddler girl moves up one spot

Congratulations to these families!

Wait List Movement!

Number one on the infant girl wait list accepted their referral today AND number 4 on the infant boy list accepted a referral today. These acceptances move multiple lists!

Everyone on the infant girl list moves up one spot
Everyone below #4 on the infant boy list moves up one spot
Everyone below #2 on toddler girl moves up one spot
Everyone on the sibling list moves up one spot
Everyone below #2 on the 5 and older girl list moves one spot

As always, call your coordinator with any questions regarding your spot on the list!

Referral Acceptance!

Number one on the toddler boy waiting list accepted a referral today! Everyone on the toddler boy list moves up one spot.

Conratulations!

Court Closure

We are disappointed to be announcing that courts are closing on August 21st this year and will be opening in late September. Our staff in Ethiopia is doing its best to get all documents for matched families into the court system as soon as possible. However, some recent court dates that have been assigned at other agencies have been for after the end of court closure, so we cannot guarantee that a timely submission of documents will result in a court date before August 21st. This only impacts families that are currently matched and have not been assigned a court date or any family who were to receive a referral during the closures.

Please do not hesitate to contact your coordinator if you have any questions.

WAIT LIST MOVEMENT

Today, number two on the baby girl list accepted a referral. Everyone below #2 on the baby girl list and #2 on the sibling list move up one spot.

Also, everyone below #3 on the baby boy list moves up one spot as well!

Referral Acceptance!

A family accepted the referral of a baby boy today! Everyone below #3 on the baby boy list and #5 on the baby girl list moves up one spot.

Please contact your coordinator if you have any questions regarding your spot on the list!

MOWA

We received word from our facilitator that as of today, MOWA is closed for approximately two weeks. At this time we expect MOWA to reopen around the first of August. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

UPDATE- Sorry for not elaborating on MOWA. MOWA is the Ministry of Women's Affairs- the adoption authority in Ethiopia. This means that any paperwork that needs to go through or come from MOWA will not be processed during these two weeks. If you are wondering whether or not your particular case will be affected by this short closure, please feel free to contact your coordinator.

Referral Acceptance

Number 4 accepted a referral for a baby girl today! Everyone below #4 moves up one spot on the baby girl list.

We also forgot to mention that the family who accepted the referral of a baby boy last week was also #3 on the sibling list. So everyone below #3 on the sibling list moves up one spot!

Referral Acceptance

Number 2 on the baby boy list accepted a referral today! Everyone below #2 on the baby boy list moves up one spot. Congratulations!

Referral!

Number one on the infant girl list has accepted a referral! The following wait list movement will take place:
Everyone below #1 on the infant girl list moves up one spot
Everyone below #3 on the sibling list moves up one spot

Congratulations!

WAIT LIST MOVEMENT!

What a great way to start the week! We had THREE(!)referrals accepted today- for two baby girls and one baby boy! The following movement takes place:
Everyone below #2 on the baby girl wait list moves two spots
Everyone below #4 on the baby boy wait list moves four spots

Congratulations to all of those families! Please call the office if you need an update on where you stand on a list.

Wait List Movement

A family has accepted a referral today for a beautiful girl. The following movement will take place:
Everyone below #4 on the infant boy list moves up one spot
Everyone below #1 on the sibling list moves up one spot
Everyone below #1 on the toddler girl list moves up one spot

IAN Care Home

We have received some feedback from parents disappointed that their children have been moved to the care home. IAN is required, as are all agencies who work in Ethiopia, to have a transition home. As mandated by the Ethiopian government, adoption agencies must take custody of the children after they have passed court. This takes the liability off of Ethiopian orphanages and onto the adoption agencies themselves.

We moved more than the few children who have passed court so that there would be more children there now, so that beds would open up at IAN and because we are confident the children we have moved will be passing court in the very near future. The nannies at the IAN transition home are coming from Sele Enat. It will have the same oversight and same management as Sele Enat. We are also excited to have the IAN office housed in the same building as our transition home.

I hope you understand that we are complying with Ethiopian law by bringing the children to the transition home, and that they are receiving the same quality care.

Sending Items To Your Children

Due to recent confusion regarding what is acceptable to send your children, and when it is acceptable to send those things, we decided to remind you of IAN’s policies on this matter:

1. Do not send any items to a child before he or she has passed court!!! This is critically important, as the children are not aware of their new parents until after they’ve passed court. This is to avoid the heartbreak of disappointment in the unlikely event something were to go wrong in the process.

2. Please keep the gifts to the approved items: pictures of family, a small welcome book, small toys. Since the time between when you have passed court and the time that child is safely in your arms is a matter of weeks, no more than a few items are needed.

3. Please keep the other children in the orphanage and the care home in mind when you send gifts. Some of the children will not have been matched yet, others may have been matched with families who are unable to send anything, and still others will never be matched with a family. We do not want these children feeling left out or experiencing more pain, the simpler and less obvious the gifts are to our children the less we negatively affect the other children at the orphanage.

4. Please check with your coordinator before sending gifts with traveling families. It is wonderful families are so ready and willing to help one another out, but since the children are in the care of IAN and we are ultimately responsible for them, we need to be aware of what is being sent.

We are discouraged that we have to make this announcement, but we have seen many photos recently of children who have not passed court but who have photos, toys and other gifts from their families. We know that these items were never approved by IAN staff and, had we been consulted, would not have been approved – at least until court was passed. This is especially unfair to the families who are just as anxious to send things to their children but are following the rules instead.

Our policies come from 10 years of international adoption experience and exist for the well being of the children in the orphanages we work with- these children are always our priority and we know that you will continue to follow the policies that protect them.

update

2009 has already been an exciting year for everyone at IAN. Just to let you know what’s been going on, here is a look at the numbers:

-Fifteen children have come HOME!
-An additional ten children have passed court and will be coming home very soon.
-Thirteen more children will have court dates within the next month – for seven of these children it will be their first court date, for the other six it is their second court date. We currently have no families in need of a third court date.
-Four families have recently accepted referrals and are waiting on court dates.

And finally….IAN has now officially opened our own care home, which is currently home to about 20 children. All of the children at the care home are children under the age of two who have already been matched with their families. The older children will remain at Sele Enat for the time being, so they can continue attending classes. More information on the care home coming soon!


Below are some pictures that recent traveling families took of the transition home:

IAN Annual Family Picnic!

Colorado Families, mark your calendars for August 16, 2009! The IAN family picnic will be held from 12 pm –2 pm at deKoevand Park – right behind the IAN offices in Centennial. IAN will provide the food and drinks; you provide the fun and families! More details coming soon…..

News From the State Department

We recently posted about a suspension of abandonment cases from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Though that decision has no afect on our families, we wanted to keep you posted as the situation develops. Here is the most recent announcement from the State Department:

May 26, 2009

Adoptions of Abandoned Children Halted by Ethiopian Court

On May 4, 2009 the Ethiopian First Instance Court temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children referred by orphanages in Addis Ababa, citing a substantial increase in the number of children being brought for adoption. The number of abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa has grown dramatically in recent months and Ethiopian authorities have become aware of possible cases of unethical practices associated with some of them.

Neither the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) nor the First Instance Court had been accepting abandonment cases from any orphanage in Addis Ababa pending an inquiry. However, on May 23 the Court confirmed that while the investigation into cases of abandoned children continues, it has begun accepting cases of abandoned children referred from Addis Ababa government orphanages. These include the following orphanages:

Kebebe Tsehay Orphanage
Ketchene Orphanage
Kolfe Youth Center

Referral Acceptance!

#1 on the toddler boy list and the 5 year+ boy list has accepted a referral for two older siblings! Everyone on these list moves up one spot.

Ethiopia: JCICS Conference Call

All of IAN’s Ethiopian Program Coordinators took part in a conference call today with the Joint Council on International Children’s Services and approximately 15 other agencies working in Ethiopia.

The main focus of the conference call was to clarify the current status of adoption in Ethiopia particularly as it pertains to the cases of abandonment in Addis. At this time Ethiopia is suspending abandonment cases in Addis only and not cases for children who have been abandoned in other areas of Ethiopia. The court in Ethiopia recently discovered the abandonment of 16 children to one 1 police officer all at the same time; these children were then placed with 4-5 orphanages. None of these children were placed at Sele Enat, the orphanage where IAN’s children are placed. Because of the fear of possible unethical conduct and illegal practices, IAN strongly supports the Ethiopian governments investigation of these cases.

Other news from the conference call is that the Ethiopian government is expecting at least a 20% increase in international adoptions over the next year and that Ethiopia’s focus will be on maintaining it’s current level of adoptions instead of increasing adoptions over the next year; that there is a strong need for more adoptions of older children (over 4) and children with special needs; and that U.S. agencies are contributing to services for children in Ethiopia through not only international adoption, but also through health, education and other human service needs.

The following alert was posted on the adoption.state.gov website:
May 13, 2009

Adoptions of Abandoned Children Halted by Ethiopian Court:
The Ethiopian First Instance Court has temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa, citing concern over a recent increase in the number of abandoned children being brought for adoption. The number of abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa has grown dramatically in recent months and Ethiopian authorities have become aware of possible cases of unethical practices associated with some of them.

Currently neither MOWA nor the First Instance Court are accepting any abandonment case from any orphanages in Addis Ababa pending an inquiry.

Please continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for updated information on Ethiopia.

We have discussed this situation with our facilitator in detail and he is confident that our cases will be fine. At this time the decision only affects children who were recently abandoned in Addis Ababa. All of our abandoned children have either been abandoned in other regions or were abandoned long before the suspicious activity began.
On Monday IAN will be on a JCICS conference call with the Ethiopia Caucus to address all of the issues surrounding this decision. At that time we will post another message updating you to any changes or any clarifications to the announcement. Please know that in international adoption things can change at any time, this announcement is based on our current understanding of the situation.

Referral Acceptance!

Number 1 on the baby boy and baby girl lists has accepted a referral today! Everyone on both lists move up one spot!

Referral Acceptance!

Number two on the baby girl list accepted a referral today! Everyone below #2 on the baby girl list moves up one spot!

Abandonment Cases

As many of you have heard, there is a lot of buzz coming out of Ethiopia about the status of abandonment cases. Due to an unusually high number of illegal abandonment cases in Addis Ababa since last fall, the Federal Courts in Addis Ababa had originally planned to put a hold on all abandonment cases.

However, upon further investigation, the hold on case approvals now applies only to five specific orphanages in Ethiopia, none of which are orphanages IAN works with. At this point, the hold on abandonment cases will not affect IAN families.

It is a good thing for the ethical standards of adoption in Ethiopia that these cases are being looked at more closely to avoid families to illegally abandoning their children. At this point we have not seen any impact on the overall status of adoption timelines, but we will continue to watch for this in the future. IAN and our in-country facilitators will continue to monitor this situation closely, and we will keep you updated with any changes.

Wait List Movement

Hello Everyone!

The following movement has taken place on our wait lists:

Toddler Girl- everyone below #4 moves up one spot
Toddler Boy- everyone below #1 moves up one spot
5 years+ boy and 5 years+ girl- everyone below #1 moves up one spot
Siblings- everyone below #2 moves up one spot

As always- call to confirm your # on the waiting list!

Referral Acceptance!

Happy May everyone!

We've had a great start to the month- a referral of a toddler girl was accepted today. Everyone below number one on the toddler girl wait list moves up one spot!

Support Sele Enat!

Javier and Christen Reyes, an IAN family adopting an eight year old girl from Ethiopia, are hosting a ZUMBA class as a fundraiser for Sele Enat orphanage this Saturday, May 2nd at Lily Gulch Recreation Center (6147 S. Holland Way Littleton, CO 80127) from 10:00- 11:00.


ZUMBA is a Latin cardio dance class. Get a great workout; learn some salsa, merengue, cumbia, mambo, cha cha cha and reggaetón and most of all have an awesome time. The class is wonderful for all fitness levels.

The family is asking for a $10.00 donation per participant and all proceeds are going to support Sele Enat. Please come and support Sele Enat- and bring your friends!

To All Our Local Families...

On Sunday, May 17th, the Homestead Community Run will be taking place in Centennial. This run is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the Wiley, Morgan & Parker Fund. The Wiley, Morgan &Parker Fund is run by an IAN family. The fund generously donates grants to adoptive parents (inlcuding two IAN families). The money raised in events such as the Homestead Community Run can help future adoptive families who otherwise may not have been able to complete the adoption on their own. The registration is $5 per person before the day of the race. The events are either a 5k run or a 1k walk.

Please contact the office for registration and sponsorship information. We hope to see you out there!

Wiley, Morgan & Parker Fund Website

Photos

We know that waiting for your court or embassy date can be a frustrating time. We also know that one of the things that helps that time go by just a little bit faster is receiving pictures of your child from traveling families

There has been one problem with this though: families have gotten pictures of children that weren’t their own (and called IAN in a panic about the weight their child has gained/lost, the change in skin pigment etc.) and some traveling families have sent pictures with other children in them.

Because of these problems, families can no longer send pictures to other families. This will not cause a slow down- all we are asking is that traveling families send us their pictures first and that we confirm that the pictures are of the right child/ do not have additional children in the photo IAN will then send the pictures out to the corresponding families.

IAN families are no longer permitted to send pictures of children at either orphanage to one another. The pictures must come through us. All traveling families will sign a policy prior to travel. I know that this is a disappointing policy to many of you, but unfortunately we have to make sure that these problems do not continue.

Families who do not sign the agreement, or are unwilling to do so, will not be permitted to take pictures at any of the orphanages. The Ethiopia staff will be made aware prior to travel and the client will not be able to bring the camera to the orphanages with them.

We thank you for your understanding and patience with this.

Wait List Movement

Today, a family accepted a referral for a toddler boy. Everyone on the toddler boy list moves up one spot. Everyone below number 4 on the toddler girl list moves up one spot.

We hope you all have a happy Easter weekend!

While You Wait

The post below is taken from Jill Khaliqi's blog. Jill and her husband, Dave, adopted two boys, ages 2 and 3, from Ethiopia last year. You can check out their very informative blog at jkdcolorado.blogspot.com



While you are waiting for your referral or court date there are a lot of things to do like decorating, name decisions, preparing any other kids in the home for the new siblings, etc.....
I would like to propose two things that we feel are very very important for you to do while you are waiting.
The first is to read all you can on grief and attachment. It is very important NO MATTER the age of your child. Even infants grieve and need help with attachments. I would suggest these books:
Attaching in adoption by Deborah Grey and
Taming the Tiger while it is still a kitten by Nancy Thomas
Click on either and you will get more information.

The second thing I would suggest you do is find all the paper work for your validation. If you are in Colorado this is the link. Download it all. Fill in all you can and wait until you get home to fill in the name and date of birth for your child (things are often different on the adoption birth certificate than they were on the referral info). Get the fingerprint reports (FBI and state) and the child abuse record from your DHS from your adoption agency. When you get home all you have to do is fill the child's part in and send it.
Do the same for citizenship. If you want to change the name or date of birth you will need to do citizenship AFTER the validation on which you change these things.
You can also have the social security card papers ready to go too. (if you do not do the ss# right away you can do a temporary tax number if you have not completed the validation.

...and more movement

Number two on the Baby Boy and Baby Girl wait lists accepted a referral today! Everyone below #2 on these wait lists move up one spot!

AND MORE!

Number one on the sibling list accepted the referral of two adorable twins (one boy and one girl) this morning! And- the family was on every list!

List Movement:
Baby Girl List: Everyone below number 6 moves up one spot
Baby Boy List: Everyone below number 7 moves up one spot
Toddler Girl List: Everyone below number 3 moves up one spot
Toddler Boy List: Everyone below number 1 moves up one spot
Sibling List: Everyone below number 1 and below number 7 moves up one spot

Please call if you need an update!

(MORE) Waiting List Movement

A family who was number two on the toddler boy list and number five on the infant boy list has accepted a referral today! So- anyone below number two on toddler boy and below number five on infant boy move up one spot!

Another Acceptance

A great way to start the week: another family accepted a referral today!

We are so excited to announce that number one on the toddler boy and toddler girl lists has accepted a referral for two children! Everyone on these lists move up one spot!

This family was also #5 on the sibling list and #1 on both 5+ lists. Everyone below #5 on the sibling list moves one spot and everyone on the 5+ list moves one spot.

If you are unsure about your spot on any list please call your coordinator for clarification.

Another Day, Another Acceptance

We had another referral accepted today! This refferal was accepted by the new number one family on the infant girl waiting list- they didn't get to be number one for very long! Everyone on the infant girl wait list moves up another spot.

Happy Friday!

MORE

Number one on the Sibling List accepted a referral today for two children! AND- they were on multiple lists.

Everyone Below #7 On the Infant Girl List moves up one
Everyone Below #3 on the Toddler Girl List moves up one
Everyone Below #5 on the Toddler Boy List moves up one
Everyone on the sibling list moves up one!

If this causes any confusion as to where you are on the list- please call your coordinator for clarification.

More Movement

Number one on the baby girl list has accepted a referral today!Everyone on the infant girl list moves up one spot.

We are also very excited to announce that a referral was accepted for two other children, one who is an HIV positive toddler. This will be the first HIV positive child that IAN has been able to help bring home and we could not be happier! This family was on the Special Needs waiting list and does not affect any other wait lists.

Referral

Number One on the baby boy list accepted a referral today! This means that everyone moves up one spot on the infant boy list.

Changes!

We know we are throwing a lot of information at you today- but we wanted to update you on some exciting program improvements that IAN is implementing immediately.

We currently have excellent communication with Ethiopia, in that we exchange emails daily with both our head facilitator and one of our assistants. Because of language barriers, many emails need a clarification or follow up. Since Ethiopia is 10 hours behind us here in CO, it isn’t until the next day where the issue is clarified for us. Unfortunately the phone is no more reliable. Sometimes the communication on the phone is difficult, and other times the phone system in Ethiopia presents its own problems. These are things we have learned to expect when working with a developing nation.

That being said, we are scheduling weekly phone calls with our in-country staff to discuss any issues that remain unresolved. We will be able to clarify answers to many of your questions and verify whether or not rumors are true. We will also be calling our staff on the day of your court date to find out the result. We will no longer wait for an email.

We are more than happy to announce issues affecting the Ethiopia program (like the TB announcement below), but we will never announce any information that has not been verified to us by a government source or from first hand experience by our in-country staff.

On a monthly basis, families who are matched with a child will receive an update including height, weight and new developmental milestones. We hope that this helps those families who have to wait a long time between match and travel. You can stay up to date on how the child is progressing and when you travel you will have a better idea of what size clothes to bring!

Whew! That is a lot. We hope that you like these changes…and if you have any suggestions just let your coordinator know!

Tuberculosis Testing

Many families have been asking about the new tuberculosis testing requirements in Ethiopia. IAN has not previously offered information since the policy is new, and has been changing daily as details and new information is added. The government had previously asked agencies NOT to offer information, so as not to alarm parents. However, since the information has been released, IAN would like to clarify the policy for all parents.

Beginning March 23, 2009, the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) is requiring TB tests and treatment for all immigrants from Ethiopia. These new requirements WILL NOT affect the majority of the children being adopted from Ethiopia.

All children under the age two will have their medical history and physical signs reviewed by a panel of pediatricians to determine if a gastric aspiration is needed to obtain a sputum sample. If the culture is positive, then TB treatment will be required. This procedure is not new, in 2008, fewer than five children under the age of two required a sputum test. None of these children had active TB.

All children 2-14 years old will undergo a skin test (TST). If the test shows TB exposure, then a chest x-ray will be done. If the chest x-ray indicates possible TB, then a smear culture will be required. The results of the culture will determine whether treatment is necessary.

If a culture is taken, it will take a minimum of eight weeks to confirm a negative result.

For children confirmed to NOT have active TB, there will be no delay in the completion of their adoption.

For the very small number of children whose TB culture confirms they have active TB, the requirement is that they submit to six months of supervised treatment in Addis Ababa. The consular staff estimates that fewer than ten orphans per year will require this treatment.

Again, for the vast majority of children in Ethiopia, these new procedures will not change or cause any delay in their adoption.

If you would like more information, please visit the embassy website at : http://ethiopia.usembassy.gov/tb_testing.html, or call your program coordinator.

MEXICO!

International Adoption Net is very proud to announce that we now have a Mexico Program! This program will be open to married couples as well as both single men and women between 25 and 60. Not ideal for families looking to adopt infants, Mexico is a great opportunity for families looking for a child around the ages of three and older. Mexico is a Hague Country. The entire process will average between 9 and 12 months.

Please share this information with friends and family interested in adopting.

Theatre for Ethiopia

Below is the announcement for a play directed by Katie Bradford, who adopted from Ethiopia in 2008,and starring Zach Truman, whose family is matched and waiting court for a beautiful baby girl. For families attending the training on Saturday- this venue is about one mile away...maybe you can get out early to support such a good cause :)



Theatre for Ethiopia


When: March 14, 2:00pm

Denver Academy Theatre

4400 East Iliff Ave, Denver

THE DANCING SPIDER



A One Act Musical Based on African Folk Tales

Performed by DA Middle School

Directed by Katie Bradford




Tickets: Adults $10 Children: $5



100% of Sales go to Ethiopian Orphan Relief:

Children’s Heaven Building Project

(MORE) Waiting List Movement

The number one family on the baby boy waiting list has accepted referrals for two wonderful boys. Everyone moves up one spot on the baby boy wait list!

Wating List Movement

We are thrilled to announce that a family has been matched with a beautiful toddler girl. The following movement will take place to our wait lists:

Infant Girl: Everyone below the number 2 spot will move up one spot
Siblings: Everyone below the number 3 spot will move up one
Toddler Girl: Everyone below the number 3 spot will move up one

Please call your coordinator if you have specific questions about your spot on our list(s)!

We wanted to give you an update as February comes to a close and March is beginning.

First, a referral was accepted for a baby girl as of this afternoon. Everyone on the infant girl list moves up one!

One family came home with their new baby girl this week and another is in Ethiopia as we speak. We have one family traveling this coming week and another the week after that. By the middle of March we will have our first five children home. We also have another five families with court dates throughout March.

We encourage you to check back often and soon for more referral information

FACEBOOK

International Adoption Net now has a Facebook page. If any of you are on Facebook, please look us up and 'become a fan'! This is an easy way for us to get our name out there a little more and for you to remind your Facebook friends what agency you are using.

Happy Friday!

Hi Families;

We just wanted to let you all know that we referred an infant girl yesterday and the referral was accepted today.That means everyone on the infant girl list moves up one spot!

Another piece of good news: two families were assigned court dates this week for late April.

We hope you all have a fabulous weekend and a happy Valentine’s Day.

Some Announcements

We had an exciting week at the office this first week in February and wanted to let you in on the happenings.

Two families found out that they get to travel this month. Both families received embassy dates in less than 5 weeks from passing court. We are excited to have two more children on their way home!

Two other families passed court this week! Both are adopting children from Hope For The Abandoned. Congratulations!

One family was given a court date for April. We have five families with court dates in March.

One of our Ethiopia families has accepted a domestic placement. They were #4 on the baby girl waitlist, which means that everyone below #4 gets to move up one spot.

Our first Nepal dossier has been sent and is making its way to Nepal now! And, just so you know, all of our Nepal slots are filled for 2009.

What a great way to start the month! We will keep you posted with more news as it comes in. Have a fabulous weekend everyone

Embassy Dates

IAN staff members steer clear of the message boards- that is your space as families to meet, discuss, vent and learn. Occasionally, however, something comes up on the message boards and makes its way to our office via phone calls and emails from concerned clients who saw something on the boards that raised a question. That has been happening for the last week or so with embassy dates and we decided at this point that it would best to address this to all of you at once and hopefully alleviate your worries.

Since IAN started working in Ethiopia we have had a 4-6 week period between court and travel. To be overly cautious, we did tell some families that it might be 4-8 weeks until travel because so many things have slowed down in Ethiopia. We now can see that the slow downs will not affect our embassy dates and 4-6 weeks is an appropriate time frame. Some families from other agencies have been apparently traveling in three and a half weeks (which is not that much different than four) and many of you are asking us why they can get their dates so quickly and ours takes so long.

From what we have heard, the three and a half weeks are the exceptions, not the rule. We have also been told that four weeks is a common wait- but that many of the people who said four weeks were coming from 2 or 3 specific agencies. Essentially, what we are hearing is that there are a few large agencies that are able to get their clients to Ethiopia in 3-4 weeks, but most of the agencies working in Ethiopia are not seeing these times. It is important to realize that we are not in a situation where families from every other agency are traveling quickly and IAN families are left behind. Our wait time from court to embassy is very competitive with most agencies. Some of these agencies with quick travel times had very very long referral waits. When you compare IAN to other agencies from start to finish, we complete adoptions at a very quick pace. Comparing only certain parts of our time frame with other agencies does not give you an accurate picture.

Secondly, our facilitator will not schedule an embassy date until he has received the final adoption decree and birth certificate. As with most things bureaucratic, this can take a bit of time. Not every agency takes the precaution of getting everything in hand before scheduling an embassy appointment. This may seem overly cautious, but we want to ensure that there no hang ups when you travel. If that means waiting a week or two for final paperwork, IAN believes it is well worth it.

It is possible that this will be a moot point after next week. On February 10 our facilitator will be attending a meeting at the US Embassy in Addis Ababa. One main topic of that meeting will be the embassy appointment process. We cannot say exactly what the changes will be at this time, but when we find out how, or if, they will affect IAN’s process we will make sure and update you.

We appreciate your patience and encourage your continued questions. We do not have control over many parts of this process, especially the Ethiopia side. Please know that as your Ethiopia Team we work hard to minimize any delays in your process and to ensure that your process is smooth and enjoyable.

Meet Our Staff: Aneata O'Brien

Aneata O’Brien has been an Ethiopia Program Coordinator with International Adoption Net since June 2007. In that time she has helped families bring home 22 children. Aneata has a huge passion for children and families- especially the children from Ethiopia. Her favorite parts of being an Ethiopian Program Coordinator are getting to know the families and when the families finally travel to Ethiopia and bring their children home. Aneata has worked in non-profits, all serving children and families, for over 15 years. She studied Art and Graphic Design and earned her Bachelors Degree from California State University Northridge. Aneata has two sons, ages 12 and 17.

Help Us Help New Families

Remember when you first began your adoption journey? All the questions you had, the unknowns looming, the overwhelming amount to learn?

IAN wants to prepare families as well as we possibly can for the adventure ahead of them. To do this, we are in the process of putting together a welcome packet for families new to our adoption program. We know that many new parents are eager for books to read, DVDs to watch, people to talk to and anything else to help them navigate the difficult process ahead. There is a wealth of information out there for us to sort through, and also some things that may not be out there – things we need to come up with ourselves.

Here is how you can help us - first, send us your favorite resources. What books, websites, movies or other things were the most useful to you? Second, looking back, what things do you wish you had known? What resources could we have provided that would have been helpful?

Leave your suggestions in the comments here or email them to sarah@adoptioninternational.net and we will use them to compile a list for the welcome packet for new parents. We, and the families that will benefit form this information, sincerely thank you for your help.

Why the Long Wait?

One of the questions we get asked most often in the office is “What’s taking so long?” Simply, adoptions to the US from Ethiopia have skyrocketed over the last 3 years. There were just over 400 Ethiopian children adopted by US families in 2005, and by 2008 that number had quadrupled to more than 1700. While it’s wonderful to have all these kids coming home to their families, the courts in Ethiopia are overwhelmed. We’re seeing the results of this in our program.

First of all, due to the volume, there is a slowdown in every step of the process. More families wanting children means IAN now has a waiting list for all children. A higher volume means a longer wait a for a court date, and even embassy dates take a bit longer than even six months ago.

Secondly, the Ethiopian government is continually adding new requirements. While for parents this can look like more hoops to jump through, it really is a safeguard against corruption. When a program grows as quickly as Ethiopia has, it becomes fertile ground for unethical behavior and abuse. It’s very reassuring to know the Ethiopian government is taking steps to avoid this. We have seen remarkably few cases of corruption in Ethiopia, and we have every reason to expect this high standard to continue.

Finally, Ethiopia is specifically becoming more and more stringent in passing cases in which there is a living parent. Again, this is being done entirely to protect Ethiopia’s families and children. It’s not uncommon for a case to be presented in the courts only to learn during the hearing that there are brand new requirements that must be met. While it’s a setback in terms of time, it is a step forward in assuring that all children available for adoption are available without corruption or coercion.

We understand that it’s incredibly disappointing to not pass court on the first try. However, it isn’t a signal that something is wrong or a cause for alarm. It’s simply part of the process of adopting from a country that is still developing. IAN is doing everything possible to ensure that families do pass court as quickly as possible. Our Ethiopian facilitator and his team are in constant contact with MOWA and the courts to stay on top of new requirements and to advocate for our families. Your program coordinators are constantly being trained on new requirements and spend hours checking and double checking your cases for completeness.
While we are asking for your patience, we also want you to feel free to ask questions, check in with us whenever you’d like and know that we all have the same goal: Bringing children home happy, healthy and as quickly as possible.