Ethiopian Adoption

Video of Chaltu when she was 8 months old.

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:08:55 -1000

This is the video of Chaltu we received last summer. It was taken in April, 2009 - she was 8 months old at the time. Taken in Adama (Nazaret), Ethiopia at Joseph’s Children’s Home, the orphanage where Chaltu lived from her earliest days until being adopted at 18 months old.
In the video is Joy Casey, the director of YWAM’s Ethiopian adoption program. She has been my lifeline through this whole process. The gentleman in the video is Abebe, our representative in Ethiopia.
They were trying to get her birth certificate picture, and they wanted one of her not smiling... she didn’t cooperate. She definitely has spunk!

HUGE update!

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:59:38 -1000

January 15th came and we didn’t pass court - again. I was devestated. The judge told us that we needed ‘more’. So - again - the people in Ethiopia went to work, and got ‘more’. A third court date was set for February 2. I was sure we would not pass. I was seriously in a funk - and it was very hard to even get through the day. We were on hold, yet again, and it felt like there wasn’t going to be an end to this whole process. But the morning of February 2, we were thrilled to hear that Chaltu is now ours! She is OURS!!!!!!
So - then we wait for travel plans. Our travel date is planned from an appointment made at the US embassy for her Visa. So... we wait... and wait. We knew it would either be March 16 or March 30. The embassy used to allow the agencies schedule the embassy dates - however, shortly after we passed court, the embassy decided that they will now schedule each individual family’s appointment. So, this week - we were notified that we are scheduled for the 16th - less than 3 weeks away!
I ended up using an adoption travel agent (Heidi Smart at Susan Parr Travel) to book our flights. My friend, Kristan, will be flying from Seattle. We’ll be meeting in San Francisco on March 11. From there, we will take a 16 hour plane ride to Dubai where we will have an 8 hour layover. Emirates will give us meal vouchers and a room for the night! The following morning, we will leave Dubai and take the last 4 hour leg of our journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
We found out that another YWAM family is also traveling that week - so we decided to stay at the same guest house as the other family. I got 2 rooms @ $30/night each room! We’re staying at EthioComfort Guest House. Joy at YWAM recommended it, and she said that it’s relatively close to the Thomas Center, CHI’s agency-run transitional orphanage. Chaltu was moved there the week after we passed court.
We will be leaving Addis on Friday evening, March 19, and arriving home on Saturday night, March 20. We have a 5 hour layover in San Francisco on the way home, and a long-time friend of mine may meet us there for dinner at the airport. :)
I’m adding an album of pictures of just Chaltu/Gabra to my family photos section of the website. Check them out... she’s a REAL CUTIE!!!!

This is what I know

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 13:00:10 -1000

Yesterday was our court date in Ethiopia. I was prepared for a few things to happen. I was prepared for Chaltu’s case to be approved and her to legally/officially be a Mitchell. I spent New Year’s Eve making sure the picture albums of her pictures were ready to be published as soon as we heard good news. I was also prepared to have a delay because the courts just didn’t hear cases. Earlier in the week some court cases from our agency were not heard because the judges were in meetings - so they rescheduled those cases. I was also prepared to have a delay if MoWA (Ministry of Women’s Affairs) didn’t have their paperwork in order. I was prepared for all of the outcomes... or so I thought.
None of that happened.
Instead, the judge heard Chaltu’s case. And decided that the kebele’s abandonment paperwork was not sufficient. The judge decided that the only way Chaltu could really be declared abandoned and then be adopted would be for the orphanage to continue to look for her birth mother for another year. Look for another year, then they would re-evaluate.
Done. Over. Case closed.
But Abdissa, our wonderful representative in Ethiopia, appealed to the judge. He told her that they had tracked her to another country, but lost her trail. They had talked to relatives, and no one knows where she is. Our representatives had been prepared to fly her back to Addis Ababa for the hearing... but they couldn’t find her. When they couldn’t find her - they followed the rules for declaring Chaltu abandoned. Paperwork was completed by the local police, declaring her abandoned. The judge listened, and decided to hear the case again in two weeks, Jan 15. But... we have to provide a relative who will verify that Chaltu’s birth mother cannot be located.
We don’t know if this can happen. We just don’t know if anyone will be able to locate a relative who would be able or willing to testify to the fact that Chaltu’s birth mother cannot be located.
In all honesty, I am not hopeful any longer.
I am saddened by the fact that this little girl will be raised in an orphanage, when she could have had a family. She DOES have a family.
I am angry that this happens - angry that the system has had to resort to waiting 1-2 years of looking for the person who relinquished the child... because agencies in the past have abused the system.
I am hurt. Deeply. Chaltu has been the child I have been carrying in my heart for over 10 months. I feel a deep heartfelt loss, a place that will never be able to be filled completely. She is my child... she is half way around the world... she will never know me... and I will never know her more than the stories I have heard thus far.
I know we have one last chance... but truly I am not optimistic about it. Those of you who really know me KNOW that I can usually see the good. One last chance on the 15th to prove to the courts that her birth mother is gone. She has moved on with her life. I can’t blame her for that... for moving on.
Our family will be ok. We will eventually get another referral. We will love that child with all the love we have. We will move on. But there will forever be a part of Chaltu with us.

COURT DATE!!! & a small FAQ

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:52:08 -1000

Sunday night I went to sleep very anxious - wondering if tomorrow would be the day. I had done this every weeknight since the courts re-opened back in October. This week would be 18 weeks since we signed our referral paperwork for Chaltu. I haven’t been able to sleep well the past few weeks, and I have been getting more and more frustrated and discouraged. I mean, there is nothing we can do but wait and trust that the Ethiopian authorities are going to sign the paperwork we need, to declare Chaltu abandoned, rather than relinquished. Because I haven’t been sleeping well, I decided on Sunday to take 2 Benadryl (helps me sleep, too).
Monday morning I was blow drying my hair at 7:40am, Adam came running into my room with the phone. It was still ringing, and he was very excited. “It’s Children’s House!!!!!”
I hesitantly answered, waiting for Jessica to give me some bad news. I was prepared.
“We have a court date for you!” was what she said, instead!!!!!
JANUARY 1
So, on January 1, 2010 (if all of the paperwork is in order on the Ethiopian government’s side) Chaltu will become a MITCHELL!
I am assuming that she will be home around the 20th or 27th of February. A full year after seeing her picture for the first time.
FAQ
Now for the FAQ’s - I know there are a lot of questions, so I will try to answer as many as I can and make them as easy to understand as I can. This process is long, drawn-out and has a lot of bumps in the road.
When did you first know Chaltu was going to be your daughter?
Last February we got a picture of Chaltu. Joy, the adoption director with YWAM told us about her. She sent us some pictures and her medical information. We said YES!
Well, when can we see pictures of her?
As soon as we get the call that the court date was successful, I will be able to post pictures and video that we have received. Just a warning... she’s absolutely adorable. Seriously. She is. Like, the most adorable baby ever. And the video... it shows just how well she will fit into our family. She’s got some personality! :)
Why has it taken so long since seeing her? I thought usually once you see pictures and have medicals, that the baby/child is home in a few months.
Um, that is what we thought, too. However, we knew that we were waiting on one piece of paper from the Ethiopian government when we said yes to her. In March, that paper was ready and we were supposed to get the official referral paperwork. However, that was when YWAM found out that the orphanage where Chaltu lives did NOT have the proper license to do adoptions. So YWAM petitioned the Ethiopian government to grant them the license. There were 18 children matched with families who were not able ot move further because of this situation. In June, we were placed back on YWAM’s waiting list because the Ethiopian government informed YWAM that they would NOT be granting any licenses. In August, on Chaltu’s first birthday, Joy called us and told us that the Ethiopian government had changed it’s mind, and decided to grant the license. Later than same day we received the official paperwork we needed to sign to make Chaltu our daughter. We signed, notarized and sent it back to our agency.
Each fall the courts close for 6-8 weeks. It was our luck that our paperwork arrived in Ethiopia just as the courts closed. So we waited until October when they were to open - only to have them delay the opening by another week. Again, we waited to be assigned a court date. Other families with YWAM received their court dates, and I was very very hopeful.
At the end of October, we found out what the hold up was. Chaltu’s birthmother could not be located. YWAM had tracked her to Saudi Arabia... but then nothing. They couldn’t find her. The problem here is that the person who relinquished the child has to appear at the court to testify that there was no coersion. So, with her unable to be located, she wouldn’t appear for the court date - and our case would be delayed further. So YWAM and the orphanage petitioned the local police to reclassify her case - adding more time to the already lengthy process.
Now that paperwork is all completed and her case has been reclassified. So, we have been assigned a court date of January 1.
Where is this court? and do you have to be there?
The court is in Ethiopia. No, we do not have to be present.
What happens at this court?
Paperwork is presented to the judges, and they decide whether or not Chaltu can be adopted by our family. Paperwork will include (but not limited to) our homestudy, immigration paperwork, Chaltu’s files, all the reclassification paperwork, etc.
There is always a possibility of a court date being delayed, or of the paperwork not being complete. Our agency and YWAM have done everything in their power to get the paperwork that is their responsibility complete. However, there can be delays - and they are not uncommon.
When is Chaltu legally your child?
As soon as the judge says that we can adopt her. As long as the Ethiopian government hsa all of their paperwork in order to present the judge on Jan 1, we should have a successful court date - meaning that she will be legally our daughter that very day!
When can you go get her?
About 6 weeks after the court date we can go get her.
Why so long?
The legal paperwork has to go to the US Embassy in Ethiopia. They need a certain amount of time.
What will happen to Chaltu after the court date but before you go get her?
Shortly after the successful court date she will be moved from her orphanage in Adama (where she has lived since she was just a few days old), to a transition orphanage in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The transition orphanage is called the Thomas Center, and it’s run by our agency (Children’s House International). We have heard wonderful things about the Thomas Center and it’s staff and nannies from families who have traveled.
Who is going to pick her up?
I am.
My BFF, Kristan, will be going with me, too. She is one of those friends who is like a soul sister. She knows my heart, she understands me on a level most other people don’t. We were expecting our 4th children at the same time, shared that pregnancy, had similar births (baby came too fast for the midwife to be there!), had the same midwife, got our daughters’ ears pierced together... but more importantly, Kristan is a God fearing woman. I would trust her more than anyone else (other than Shawn) with my children.
We had hoped that Austin could go. However, I am really waffling about taking him. The week we will be there will be spent sitting around - not going out and exploring/sight-seeing. I think he would get a better experience of Africa through a mission trip in a couple of years. He has AD/HD so a working trip would be MUCH more beneficial for him. Also, the cost is a very real factor. Tickets from Honolulu to Addis Ababa (through Seattle, to pick up Kristan) are going to run us about $2000 each. We have raised right around $1000 for him, through the Santa vacation postcards $350), a yard sale ($510) and sale of extra furniture $200). That money will be used to get the bins of donations I have to Ethiopia.

Not the update I was hoping for...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:09 -1000

Shawn left for training on the big island around 2 am. He took the van so he wouldn’t wake me up. So, I got up like a good girl, whined about walking to get the car... and then walked to get the car. I stopped at Starbucks on the way home for my venti iced caramel latte with an extra shot... because, well, I need an extra shot. I got home - and Austin said that Joy called. YES! We’ve been waiting for this phone call!!!
First off, I love Joy. Really. She is absolutely wonderful. She loves these kids, she loves the families, and she loves God.
So, she tells me that they have petitioned for a court date for Chaltu yet because they have been unable to find her birth mother. It’s important to find her birth mother, because she HAS to show up at the court proceeding to give her testimony. Without her there, the court case would be denied. YWAM has search for her birth mother - even into other countries where they thought she might be. However, they have not been able to find her.
So... YWAM has asked the local kebele (sort of like a police district, I believe) if they could process Chaltu’s paperwork as an abandonment case, and they got the OK. So now YWAM is working on getting the proper paperwork for Chaltu so that she can be declared abandoned.
We are unsure how much time this will add onto the already long process. Shawn is due to leave for a 2 month training in mid February - and if we don’t get a court date until January or later, then travel would be while Shawn is away at training. I have 4 kids here at home... so I am not sure what we will do. Mom insists that we will cross that bridge when we come to it, but it scares me.
I wish I understood God’s timing. Mom has always told me that we may never know what God has saved us from if we trust his timing. It could be something small or not so small, but we have to trust that He has a reason for His timing.