Six years plus six days - waiting for Embakom

Here’s a little history of how I ended up in Ethiopia in November 2010. It’s a winding, twisty tale and not an atypical timeline for international adoption for Canadians.

Mario and I began applications for adoption in 2004. Ruthie was born in 2005; a happy shiny pink presence that put the adoption on hold. We returned to the adoption process in 2006, and found a program working with orphanages in Zambia, moving our file from domestic to international adoption. A change in the Zambian government caused a freeze on international adoptions, and we were devastated - we'd waited almost a year in the Zambia program and lost another 6 months changing our file from Zambia to Ethiopia. There is more governmental paperwork involved in international adoption than anyone can imagine, and everyday waiting brings to mind the kids who are getting older and older as they wait in orphanages for a family of their own.

Just as we got on track again with an Ethiopia program, our agency was declared bankrupt. There were allegations of six-figure salaries, leased luxury vehicles and crazy huge expenses (horses, pools) charged by senior executives Susan and Rick Hayhow - a criminal investigation is on-going.

Finding another agency was not an option - the Ethiopian Gov would not licence a new agency in Canada, the only other Cdn agency working in Ethiopia wasn't taking new clients, so starting over would be impossible. Plus, we’d lost our fees, and we’re not getting any younger so we really thought that dream was over. Cue the happy, hero theme song. They say nothing is tougher than a mom when her kids (at home or expected from far away) are threatened. True dat!!!! Through sheer determination and chutzpah a group of prospective adoptive parents loosely joined by a yahoo chat board and shared grief pulled together and decided to fight the bankruptcy. Armed with little more than letters and emotions, our campaign to raise awareness, donations and governmental flexibility (seriously!!) was a raging success, and after six months of hard work the licence-suspension was undone, and we were operational with a new board. Amazing.

Each family was numbered, and we were #150. Not promising. Imagine our surprise on May the Fourth (be with you), 2010 when Embakom's little 3 1/2 year old face came whirring through our fax! Which brings this chapter to an end; all the waiting is forgotten as we fall in love with our new son and work to bring him home quickly!