The Breaking Point?

Frustration doesn't even describe how I am feeling right now.  Frustration with our own country's government.  We are Lainey's legal parents.  Ethiopian officials and our adoption agency researched, double and triple checked, and declared Marta an orphan.  We have her birth certificate and passport from Ethiopia, declaring her legal name "Marta Tyrone Robuck." If we lived in Ethiopia, we would be a family of three.

But our government, in it's supremacy, is not convinced Ethiopia has done enough. Or, they don't care.  Perhaps, according to officials, Ethiopia is just handing out or selling babies.  So, Lainey's file, among countless others, are going through the ringer right now.  Extra scrutiny.  Unattainable expectations.  Ridiculous timelines.

Regarding Lainey's file specifically, there have been trivialities that have added weeks, possibly months onto our timeline.  The details are boring to anyone other than us, but they are comparable to crossing t's and dotting i's.  (And I really dislike cliches.)

That said, below is an email I sent out to friends with links that explain a little of what we may be up against.  In addition to those links, here are a couple more:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/intl-adoptions-part-1-missionary-waiting-4-years-to-bring-home-adopted-son-68146/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/intl-adoptions-part-2-adoptive-parents-face-difficulty-with-us-embassy-in-ethiopia-68842/

Hi there,

I'm just sending this to a few people because you've shown interest in what is happening with Lainey's file in the US Embassy in Ethiopia. Feel free to forward this on to anyone who might be interested.  Ty tells me often I have a narrow view of other people's concern for us.  But really, I just don't want to take up the valuable time of anyone with my life problems! :) 

Because I'm a bit overwhelmed and caught up in every little detail of Lainey's file, I struggle to explain the big picture to people who ask.  I recently found a few sites that comprehensively, and much more clearly that I can, explain what is going on at the US Embassy in Ethiopia.  

It took me a bit of time to read through them, including the comments, so tackle them only if you want and only if you have time.  It won't hurt my feelings if you don't. :) 

A couple caveats - To different degrees, there is a tone of disgust on these sites with the US government.  And both are written by Christians, so they include references to their faith and Bible verses.   And, PSD friends, I'm sending this from my home email (so I don't abuse district email privileges). :)

http://thecarrollstory.blogspot.com/

This was so well written and easy to understand.  It even helped clear some things up for me.  If you read it, don't skip over the footnotes.  The comments are valuable, also, as they provide both sides of a heated issue.

http://adoptionscoop.blogspot.com/

This one is a bit more emotional, but also telling about the situation.

I'm certainly not asking you to take any action.  I'm not really asking anything, just hoping to give you an understanding what we are facing. The support you've offered means a ton; I appreciate it.  As you can imagine, we don't know what the future holds with Lainey's file. So far, for a few different reasons, it hasn't even been deemed ready to submit to Embassy.  This waiting stage has been really, really difficult. Perhaps, hopefully, her file will sail through once submitted, and only after she is home will we be forced to decide what actions we may or may not take about the big picture.

Again, thanks.

Rachel

p.s.  I'm really nervous to click "send!"