Sad News

We found out yesterday that the US embassy in Ethiopia has cut the number of visa appointments each agency has every month in half - from 20 per month to 10.  This is extremely discouraging news.  Several families who were supposed to travel today to found out yesterday that they would have to wait two more weeks.  For the rest of us, it means a wait that is twice as long.  After we pass court.  After the children are legally ours.  Instead of 8-12 weeks, it could easily be six months.  It's an outrage.  The number of adoptions in Ethiopia has skyrocketed over the past decade.  The embassy should be adding staff and appointments, not doing just the opposite.  

For us specifically, it means that Little E will probably not come home this year.  He's already been in care for almost a year and there's no end in sight.  He has special needs and will require therapies once he gets here.  All of that will have to wait, while the embassy deals with staffing issues.

Please help us get Little E and all of the other waiting children home as fast as we can.  Go to this website:  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Find your senators and send them an email.  If you don't know what to say, copy and paste what is written below.  Thank you for your efforts and support.  Please keep us, all of the other families affected by this, and the precious children waiting to come home in your prayers.

My friends are adopting a toddler boy from Ethiopia and were just notified that their adoption process is greatly delayed due to a shortage of staff at the US Embassy in Ethiopia. The agency's usual 20 appointments per month will be immediately cut back to 10 appointments.

Many of these children are already legally adopted by US citizens and are only waiting for the Visa appointment to come home. The usual wait from passing court to Visa appointment is 8-12 weeks. That time will now be doubled to nearly 6 months.  It is heartbreaking for families who have been longing to bring their children home for many months.

There are many New Mexico families who have adopted and are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. Please contact the US Embassy in Ethiopia and see what can be done (more staff, etc) to maintain the usual 20 Embassy appointments per month per agency.