Three Months

Today is EIGHT months since we began our adoption adventure. Tomorrow will be THREE months since our file went to Ethiopia. We were hopeful that we would be one of the lucky families that got our referral within a few weeks. It wasn't to be. We do know that we are well into the wait though, and we can only hope it won't be too long.

The nice thing is that with our agency's new policy of applying for the Medical as soon as the Referral is given, we know that we will not wait any longer than six months after we have seen our children's faces to bring them home.

Though we are happy that the wait has been shortened from 8 or 9 down to 6 months, we would obviously like the girls to come home much sooner after referral. I know of a lady from England who is just now getting through Court. She will be travelling TEN DAYS after Court to pick up her child!!!!

There is no difference in our countries way of doing adoptions *except* for the High Commission in Nairobi that we Canadians deal with. We are the ONLY country that is taking 6 months to bring our children home after we are granted by Ethiopian courts to be their legal parents. The rest of the countries are bringing home their children home in weeks to 2 months!!! In China, it takes FOUR DAYS to get a Visa to bring an adopted child home to Canada!! This discrepancy is related to *Ethiopian* adoptions.

And this is nothing to do with making sure the children are legally coming into our country. This has all been done *prior* to the Court where the decision has been made for us to be able to adopt our children.

This is *purely* lack of manpower in the High Commission. This is outrageous!!!!

We all had high hopes that when our government spoke of the new Citizenship being granted to our internationally adopted children that we would be able to have them home sooner. Immigration is still telling us that it will be 6-8 months. We have yet to see it being any sooner. WHY is our country the only one taking so long to issue a piece of paper allowing our children to come to the families that are desperate to have them join them?

Many, many, many families have been writing letters to the Minister at the Canadian Immigration Centre.

For anyone of our friends that cares to join our campaign, this is the address of the Minister that I have written to:

Minister@cic.gc.ca

I have also carbon copied this letter to our own Member of Parliament in our area. I have heard of great help being offered by other people's MPs. They have even helped them to find out where their files are in the High Commission office in Nairobi. This is why we voted them in - they are there to help us.

If you wish to join us in writing a letter, please do so. The more letters that they get the more likely they are to move on this. The last time we campaigned the government, we were *heard*!!! It did make a difference. But now is the time to act again. If the government thinks that it doesn't matter to parents that their children sit in an orphanage 6 MONTHS after they have been ADOPTED they are wrong!!!! We need friends and family to join us in this endeavor. Please consider writing a short letter stating that Canada has the longest time in bringing their children home that are adopted from Ethiopia. We are waiting 6 months after adopting our children for the High Commission to issue the Medical and Visas that state these children can enter Canada.