Working Out the Details

Well, I spoke to my original social worker at Gladney. She said me and my situation was a topic of conversation there this morning. Although she is not 100% sure, she thinks that starting my home study here was a total waste of money. That if I plan to adopt while living abroad that I need to complete a homestudy over there and if I want to wait until I return that it will be no good (it will have expired). Unless, I get everything done before I go--including getting my I171H in the mail so that all I will be waiting for is a referral. I told her it might just make more sense to wait until I return to complete the process at which point she reminded me of something I had completely forgotten... the likelihood that Ethiopia will close to singles in 2009. If I want an Ethiopian child I need to adopt in 2008. Period. So tomorrow she will call me back and let me know how to proceed. If I wait, I risk not being able to adopt from there at all. She said if I do the paperwork now I will be waiting for a referral when I leave in July (assuming that's when my I171H arrives) which will arrive anywhere from 3-5 months. I think I can ask to hold off on the referral to closer to the four month mark but no longer. Then I accept a referral and wait for a court date which is about another three months. So, that would mean that I would get a referral around November and a court date around February and presumably pick up my child in March of next year. That is not ideal. I will be in a new job, in a new country. I need a bit more time to get settled, to figure out the child care situation, meet other parents, get a support network. The end of the year would be perfect or anytime thereafter. The other factor is I can't go from Ethiopia back to the Philippines. I would have to go from Ethiopia back to the US before going back to the Philippines. It sounds challenging but doable. I guess when I speak to her tomorrow I will be in a better position to make a decision once I have all the information.