Me on Television? Nah!

Today, I was reading my email when I got a real shock. I saw an email in my In Box with the subject: Interview request.

I glanced into the email and felt I was in the twilight zone. There was an email from a woman working with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto. The letter said they were looking to do a story with a reporter on Sunday about the implementation of Bill C-14. If I was willing to go on camera and talk about my experiences, please let them know.

You know, there is all this Bill C-14 stuff going around and we adoptive parents are waiting anxiously to hear what this might mean to us, but I am just one of the parents. I am not one of the brains!! LOL!!

For all of those who are not aware of what is going on, we have been waiting anxiously for December 22. On June 22, 2007 Bill C-14 was passed and it will be put into place on December 22, 2007. This Bill will change how things are done for children that are adopted abroad. Instead of having to apply for an Immigration Medical Exam and then the Permanent Resident Visa, it would mean that the children would be started on the road to being Canadian Citizens before they come home. They would not enter Canada any differently than if they were born to us out of the country. The other method was found to be discriminatory.

We are still waiting to see what the Bill will mean to us all. At this moment the CIC website says that there will be no medical required for our children to come home, but we don't know how this will affect our waiting timeline. At this moment we are expecting to wait 4-6 months after a court date before we can bring our kids home. During those months they are legally our children and yet, still sit in orphanages waiting for government paperwork to be passed, so they can come home. This is not good.

Up to this point, the families waiting for the Medical to come through for their children have been waiting for up to 18 weeks post court date!! That is too long!! From there, they then are waiting an additional 3-4 weeks for the Visa to be issued.

We had been told that the new method would take a similar time frame (4-6 months), but we are very hopeful. There was some very good news on the CIC website and we are all cautiously hopeful that the New Year will bring some clear good news and the timelines might shorten. We can only hope!

In the meantime, I replied to CBC's email and asked where they found me!! I mean, goodness! There are about 300-500 people (at least) adopting from Ethiopia right now, and hundreds and hundreds from China and other countries!!! She said she did a Google search for Foreign Adoption - well, I tried that. My name never came up!! *laugh*

She said she would like to send a camera crew to our house on Sunday, and the reporter will be in Ottawa. It will a different type of interview given the reporter will not be here. Should be interesting!

They have contacted adoption agencies, but they wanted a personal story and so want our thoughts on how this new Bill will affect our family. Really only time will tell. But we can certainly share our thoughts on seeing our little girls photos and then not being able to bring them home for a further eight months!!! Lord willing this new Bill will bring them home months sooner!!

I quickly emailed my good friend, Corrie, and asked her what I should do?

Her reply? "God led them to you!

You have to go! You could be used as an instrument in decreasing the travel times to our children!

GO GO GO !!!!"

*Laugh* Well, I am shaking in my boots, but so excited to be given this opportunity that might help shorten the future orphanage stays of all our children!

Please pray that I can explain clearly what this will mean to the hearts of all the families waiting for their children to come home. This is not a political stand; it is supposed to be personal, but I have never spoken to a television reporter before. I will need prayer coverage for sure!!