Colin and I have been soaking in the fact that we are on the waitlist.
Typical daily conversation:
Colin: Good morning.
Jess: Good morning.
Colin: Guess what?!?
Jess: What?
Colin: We are on the waitlist!!
I want to take a moment to explain to you how AGCI's Ethiopia program waitlist works. When a family turns in their dossier and it is approved, they are given a waitlist number. AGCI uses three different waitlists: girl, boy, and siblings. It is the adoptive parents' choice which list they would like to be on--they can choose just one, two, or all three. It is also the adoptive parents' choice what age range of child/ren they are open to accepting and what health needs they are open to.
Our first waitlist numbers and age parameters are:
139 for a girl 0-12
months old
and
63 for siblings--a girl 0-12 months old and a birthsister
0-5 years old
Each month, AGCI will tell us our new waitlist numbers. Because of the wide range of parameters that parents get to choose, a family doesn't necessarily need to be #1 on the waitlist to receive a referral. If a family is open to an older child or a child with a special need that other families ahead of them are not, they will receive the referral.
If a family is on multiple lists and they receive a referral, they will be taken off of all lists. So, just because we are #139 on the girl's list, does not mean that 138 girls will have to be referred before we receive our referral.
Although our sibling number is a lot lower than our girl number, there are more single child referrals than sibling referrals.
AGCI is telling families to expect to wait at least 2 years for a referral. Honestly, I am preparing my heart to wait longer than this. During the month of October, NO referrals went out. There is no way to predict the future of Ethiopian adoptions--the wait could go up or down.
We know that God placed us on the list at the exact timing to receive our perfect referral.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the waitlist or adoption in general. I would absolutely love to discuss your question with you!
Wow this is so complicated! I work for my agency's child protective services agency, so I see a ton of domestic adoptions of children that have been in foster care. That's much simpler than international, and even that confuses me sometimes! I hope this list moves fast for you guys! It's such an awesome thing that you are doing! :)
ReplyDeleteSo excited for you all!!!! We'll be praying for you and your new additions :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so exciting! Can't wait to see how God moves in your lives and your future kiddos! Praying for your journey! :)
ReplyDelete"We know that God placed us on the list at the exact timing to receive our perfect referral."
ReplyDeleteYes, He did! His timing is perfect! :-) I love your trust in Him and am SO EXCITED for the day you get the call about your children!!!