Too Much Time has Past

Yes, it’s been too long since I last posted; two months in fact. Once again a lot has happened.


In the previous post I touched on some changes that had occurred with Ghana and adoptions; let me expand on those changes.


I) Most of the judges are now issuing a two year interim decree instead of a final adoption decree. And because of the state we live in, which requires us to be a licensed foster home, our children would fall under the fostering laws. Since the adoption would not be finalized, we will be required to pay for monthly home visits during that 2 year period or until the adoption is finalized. No offense, but who wants social services in their lives for two years; which will include an extra $2400. 2) Both parents are now required to go to court; this requires an extra trip. 3) One of us will need to stay in country for 2-3 weeks. 4) The orphanage we had thought our children would come from was closed. This was done to be respectful to Ghana’s social welfare direction. The children will now be in foster homes, which will hopefully be a good change as they will be in a home instead of an institution.


At the beginning of April, our coordinator went to Ghana to walk a couple of families through the new process. While she was gone discussions continued between our adoption agency & our state.


On April 16th I was contacted by the director of our adoption agency letting us know that our file had land on her desk because our coordinator was gone. She also wanted us to know that we would be required to have monthly home visits and because of everything, had we considered Ethiopia? We had not. After I hung up the phone with her, I called back because I thought I better have all the facts and not act on emotion. We had several conversations that day between phone & e-mails.


On Monday, April 19th, in an e-mail we were informed that our agency was considering closing the program to families in our state. GASP!!! I emailed her back & asked when that might happen & would that affect us or future families.


Tuesday, April 20th, we received a call from our home study agency. They wanted to set up a conference call with them, DCFS & us. We thought our adoption agency should also be involved so I called the director to see if she could be on the call. Before I had a chance to ask she told me that a decision had been made and the Ghana program was being closed to families in our state. Major gulp!!! I was taken off guard, but proceeded to tell her the reason of my call. I told her maybe things would change once we could all talk & maybe we could still be able to adopt from Ghana.


Wednesday, April 21, we had the conference call with our home study agency, DCFS, our adoption agency, Ken & I. We thought the call went really well. It was so nice to have everyone on the same page and fully informed. An agreement was made between the three agencies as to our requirements. Best news was our adoption agency changed their minds and the Ghana program was reopened to our state. Regardless of what happens, we are excited for the reconsideration.


To be continued…..