The Waiting Game

Ok...so I have been informed that I need to provide a little more information about what we do while we wait. We have now been on the waiting list for Ethiopia since November 9. On December 7, we go to have our final set of fingerprints taken, and then we will officially have everything complete. While we wait, Ryan and I are preparing as best as we can. However, it is hard to prepare when we don't know when our referral will come, what sex the child is, how old he/she is, what part of Ethiopia they come from, etc. So for now...we have tried to keep up on transracial adoption issues and basics on Ethiopian culture. Once we have our referral, we have 1 week to decide whether or not we will accept or deny the referral. We will take any information we have on medical history as well as all the pictures to our Pediatrician here in Red Wing and to the International Pediatric Clinic at the U of M. The pediatricians will look all the information over and let us know if they see any huge red flags. If not, then we accept the referral. If they do see some issues, we will have a choice to make. We are hoping that it doesn't come to that, but you never know. Once the referral is accepted, we will be given a travel date. Usually this is anywhere from 4-8 weeks after referral. I hope this is helpful for understading the process. So far, things have been great. Every step has gone very smooth and our agency has been very supportive. If anyone, and I mean anyone, is looking into adopting or knows someone else who is looking into it, I would highly recommend our agency. I will post more as things develop, but for now, we wait and pray.