May June July update

So many people ask about what's going on in Haiti. "I thought you were supposed to get a fast referral in Haiti, with a long wait AFTER referral?" I know, I say. It used to be that way, but the process is changing. And so we are still waiting for a referral. But the changes are good.

Once Haiti gained Hague accreditation status on April 1, we watched with anticipation to see if IBESR would begin making matches again with regularity. In April, there was much excitement when AGCI received 2 matches from IBESR. Then another family in Canada not with AGCI but with Rivers of Hope also received a match. We were starting to get excited.

Our caseworker confirmed what I suspected, we are at or near the top of "the list." It's not too hard to figure out. There are just 12 families waiting. There isn't really a list. But it seems matches at Rivers of Hope are going out in roughly the same order that dossiers are submitted to IBESR. If you follow this, we are probably next in line. We were preparing to go into standby mode, with the possibility of travel to Haiti coming in the spring or early summer.

Then at the beginning of May, IBESR announced a procedural change. The legal relinquishment process for birth parents has historically occurred in Parquet (court) after a child has been matched with an adoptive family. Now IBESR is requiring this step to be complete before a match can be made. This is a good, positive change. It will protect all the stakeholders in the adoption process. It also has the potential to save several months of waiting after referral. Less waiting after referral would be fantastic, we'll take it. Unfortunately, the change in process has delayed new matches, official referrals, and bonding trips as IBESR gets this all figured out. We've heard they had to hire a judge and essentially set up a brand new children's court.

This was hard to hear when our hopes were high. Just a few days after we learned the news, we had the pleasure of having dinner with a handful of AGCI families in Chicago.  Because we were late to the dinner, we were also the last family to leave the restaurant. We wound up in a deep conversation with our agency director, Hollen, and development director, Frank, about everything under the sun related to helping vulnerable children. It was inspiring.

Hollen was excited about what a positive change in process this is for Haiti. I told her I couldn't agree more. And then I blurted out, BUT WE ARE AT THE TOP OF THE FREAKING LIST! She laughed and compassionately told me to hold on. 

She said the children at Rivers of Hope are AMAZING! Wait until you meet them. Rachel is AMAZING. What you are waiting for is GOOD. I promise you.

Of course we know this, but it felt good to hear her say it.

We will wait. We know what we are waiting for is totally worth it.

Little one, YOU are worth waiting for.

There are some indications that things are starting to move again. Fingers crossed!