The days on the long road of one families Ethiopian Adoption

This blog started out as a way to record the twists, turns, highs and lows in my families journey to adopt siblings from Ethiopia. Now our children are home and we have just finished celebrating our first year as a family.

I'm Kimberly (or Fendesha), an adventurous person who aspires to be a vagabond- but for now- I spend all of my free time travelling and my down time thinking of travelling. I'm a mom of 3 (the oldest being my gorgeous canine companion), a IT project manager, and on occasion I find myself the primary writer of this blog.


Happy Reading and thank you for stopping by.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Adoption- On Hold

Well- it's almost official. In a few weeks we will be putting our adoption on hold while I am working in Ethiopia. Although it is a smart decision, and probably won't affect our wait one bit-I can't help but think about- the "what ifs".

I will be so excited to come home from Ethiopia and see all of our new Adopting friends with their referrals and perhaps even with their children if any receive referrals in the next few weeks. Those that received referrals over the holidays will also be out and about by then and meeting their newly formed families-seeing many of them as families for the first time with their new children will fill me with such joy. What an exciting time it will be when I get home. The adventures everyone will have to tell.

And even though this is an adventure of my very own I'll have to share- somehow putting the adoption on hold is a tough decision. Some say- "why do it then".

I don't want distractions from the teaching and care work I'll be there to complete. If I received a referral - I'd just want to go straight to Horizons House and would not want to teach as much. After all who would want to spend a day helping out at one orphanage when they can be at another that would have their future children in it Although in my heart I know it would be an unforgettable experience to meet my future children and be in their country when they are introduced to Denis and I through the agency- it would also be a distraction from my goals while over there. Instead of sitting with a language instructor I'd see myself at the orphanage-etc. So- in order to make the most of these short 3 months- it's the right thing to do. But -that doesn't change the fact that it's going to be very hard.

It would be very hard to focus on helping others knowing that the children that I'm potentially going to raise as my son or daughter are waiting for me just a few kilometers away. This event would not be in the best interest of the children and organizations I am going over to serve.

For those wondering- Placing our adoption "on hold" does not change our "placement" on the imaginary list- but it does insure that we will not receive a referral for the time period we are "on hold" for.

Ethiopia Bound in 35 days.

1 comment:

QB said...

Please do not refer to my sacred and all-consuming list as "imaginary." Just kidding. I am so excited for you, and jealous. I think that you are 100% right about the hold not affecting your wait time at all. I think that it will do nothing except give you the peace of mind that you are looking for. Will you visit/check out Horizon House while you are there? I hope that you are able to keep us updated while you are there, and if not, then I look forward to reading or hearing about your trip when you come back.

Meme Stevens- Beautiful Song- get Kleenex

Oh the places I've Been (and might go again)