Saturday, January 8, 2011

not really thinking

I'm working on our "Statement of Reason for Adopting an Ethiopian Child," which will go in our dossier to the Ethiopian government. It's funny how many blogs I've seen where the parents' reason was, "God told us our child was in Ethiopia," and that's been a completely acceptable statement. Yay, religion! No need for thought or self-reflection!

10 comments:

  1. I totally agree with this post! How does one 'prove' that God told them to adopt? My husband and I continue to shake our heads at the emphasis on religion in so many adoptions. I know everyone is different and that faith is important to many people, but I agree with you...I don't know how this statement is just accepted in the Statement of Reason.

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  2. Agreed.

    In response to your response on my blog... I bet WHFC really wants to get us off the list as we are messing with the Wait times. I wonder if after we receive our referral it will change? I mean come on, we are 14 months people...

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  3. I just looked at Shannon's (first comment here) blog, and the estimated wait time for Gladney for an infant is 8 months. A local family who adopted through Gladney also got an infant in about 8 months... why is Wide Horizons' time so much longer? Do they work in fewer places than Gladney?

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  4. We really struggled with this statement as well. "Just a gut feeling" didn't seem like enough, and since we haven't struggled with fertility issues, we couldn't go that way either. In the end, it basically said that as we researched, we just fell in love with Ethiopia.

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  5. And, I just had lunch last week with someone who is adopting an infant through Gladney's Ethiopia program. They waited 9 months for a referral and are traveling next week for court. Since I've been waiting 11.5 months for SIBLINGS (which I thought would happen sooner), I was bummed about it.

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  6. Just to clarify...I just listened to the most recent information that was posted by Gladney...apparently MOWA is currently not issuing opinions for ONLY Gladney cases until the investigation is finished. Sorry if I panicked anyone! :-)

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  7. I don't know that much about Gladney, but I would think the wait times with WHFC have to do with the sheer number of people on the waiting list. It's a big agency with a lot of clients, and Ethiopia is a popular choice.

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  8. Kyra, I responded to your comment on Liz's blog.

    Congrats on getting further in the process.

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  9. I love the honesty of your post! Thanks! I was thinking the same thing when we wrote our letter. It was a little frustrating when I realized that we could not apply for any grants since we are not religious. When I started this journey I did not realize how many religious people adopted. Good luck with your fingerprints. Ours came back super fast so I will keep my fingers crossed for your guys. -Kala

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  10. This post echoes my sentiments exactly.

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