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I’ve decided to start another ongoing post like my blogroll one. This one deals with something high on the interest list of any family currently in the adoption process. Just how long does it really take to adopt from Ethiopia? I hope that you will help answer that question by sharing your own statistics.
There are so many variables: the agency you use, the type of child you are requesting, the speed of your social worker, the competence of your local immigration office, and the amount of time you are willing to devote to pushing your own paperwork. Looking at other people’s timelines will not accurately predict your own wait. But if enough statistics are gathered, they can give you a better idea of what to expect.
Here’s what I’d like to do. If you are a family with a child home or an adoption in process during 2007, I would love for you to share your timeline with us in the comments on this post. Your child doesn’t have to be home already, but I would like to ask you to wait at least til you get your referral to share stats.
In the box below I’ve listed the information I’d like to gather. Copy and paste it into comments and then fill in your answers. Below the box, I will answer the same questions with my own 2007 adoption statistics, both as an example and as a data point for other families.
First name/nickname:
Your agency:
Initial application date:
Type of child requested:
Homestudy complete date:
Dossier to Ethiopia:
Referral Date:
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted:
Date you PASSED court:
How many court dates did you have?
Embassy date:
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing?
OK, now here’s my info:
First name/Nickname: Mary
Your agency: Adoption Advocates International
Initial application date: April 1, 2007
Type of child requested: older waiting sibling group
Homestudy complete date: May 5, 2007
Dossier to Ethiopia: May 15, 2007
Referral Date: May 15, 2007
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted: girls, ages 9 and 12
Date you PASSED court: June 30, 2007
How many court dates did you have? One
Embassy date: August 1, 2007
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing? I do paperwork like a woman possessed. (AND we were very fortunate that our case progressed so fast at every point!)
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I will bring this post to the top of the blog once a month or so, so people can read and update it easily. Feel free to edit your own comments to reflect progress with your adoption.
Though it is good not to get too obsessive about numbers and timing, I really appreciated having some average waits in mind while we waited and I hope others will find this information helpful as well.
Related links
Waiting- badly
Surviving The Wait (silly)
Surviving The Wait (really)
First name/nickname: Jenny
Your agency: Dove Adoptions International
Initial application date: September 2006
Type of child requested: infant under 9 mo.
Homestudy complete date: early November 2006
Dossier to Ethiopia: February 1, 2007
Referral Date: May 15, 2007
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted: 2 month old boy
Date you PASSED court: July 3, 2007
How many court dates did you have? 2
Embassy date: August 2, 2007
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing? Our wait time was actually shorter than the average wait time of 16 weeks (then – it’s longer now) with our agency.
First name/nickname: Anne
Your agency: AAI
Initial application date: Nov 1, 2005
Type of child requested: girl 0-18 months
Homestudy complete date: Nov 16, 2005
Dossier to Ethiopia: Dec 6, 2005
Referral Date: July 11, 2006
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted: 2 mo
old girl
Date you PASSED court: Nov 3, 2006
How many court dates did you have? 2
Embassy date: Nov 22, 2006
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing? started with a different agency, and also waited through the court closure
First name/nickname: Lenka http://thesteigerclan.blogspot.com/
Your agency: AWAA
Initial application date:2/7/2007
Type of child requested: girl under 3
Homestudy complete date: 4/22
Dossier in Ethiopia: 6/15
Referral Date: 10/19
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted:girl 4months
Date you PASSED court:
How many court dates did you have?
Embassy date:
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing? I would like to know too! However I am sure we are waiting for our court date so long due to the closure for 2 months in the fall.
First name/nickname: Megan
Ladyofmoonlight.livejournal.com
Your agency: WHFC
Initial application date: 10-10-06
Type of child requested: 0-24m, either gender
Homestudy complete date: 12-9-06
Dossier to Ethiopia: 3-19-07
Referral Date: 8-10-07
Age and sex of child: Male 21m (officially, Dr thinks he’s younger)
Date you PASSED court: 10-22-07
How many court dates did you have?: 1
Embassy date:11-12-07
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing?
Almost 4 month wait for I-171H
Put on hold due to young ages, off hold on 6-29-07, top of the list for 18-24m at that point, waited 5 weeks, in 1st travel group for our agency after court closure
First name/nickname: Betsy
Your agency: Adoption Associates, Inc.
Initial application date: 2/16/07
Type of child requested:boy <12months
Homestudy complete date: 4/1/07
Dossier to Ethiopia: 6/16/07
Referral Date: 9/24/07
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted: 7 month old boy
Date you PASSED court: 11/30/07
How many court dates did you have? 4
Embassy date: 1/03/08
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing?
First name/Nickname: Jill
Your agency: Adoption Associates, Inc
Initial application date: February 16, 2007
Type of child requested: infant girl; then August asked for additional child/toddler
Homestudy complete date: March 2007
Dossier to Ethiopia: June 13, 2007
Referral Date: November 21, 2007
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted: girls, ages 21 mths and 3 mths
Date you PASSED court:
How many court dates did you have?
Embassy date:
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing?
First name/nickname: Penelope
Your agency: America World (AWAA)
Initial application date: 10/9/06
Type of child requested: Two children under three years old
Homestudy complete date: 1/7/07
Dossier to Ethiopia: 3/1/07
Referral Date: 10/3/07
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted: 14mo boy and 4 1/2mo girl
Date you PASSED court: 12/28/07
How many court dates did you have? 4
Embassy date: 1/23/08
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing? We had delays after our referral until our successful court date. After the courts reopened in October, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) had more requests for approval letters to go to court than they could handle. That was why two of our court dates were not successful. The last was because of a document that MOWA needed.
First name/nickname: Tana
Your agency: AAI
Initial application date: October 2006
Type of child requested: sib group under age 5
Homestudy complete date: November 2006
Dossier to Ethiopia: May 2007
Referral Date: December 2007
Age and sex of child(ren) to be adopted: girl, 12 and boy, 15 months
Date you PASSED court: NA
How many court dates did you have? NA
Embassy date: NA
Any unusual circumstances that affected timing? We had to wait about 4 months before we could formally apply with AAI. We also changed our child request (which shortened the wait just slightly).