Found an interesting article dated March 25, 2011 that mentions Kenya and the adoption process there.

African adoptions drop as economic crisis bites

International adoptions by Americans have decreased sharply due to the economic crisis and increased regulation imposed after high-profile celebrity cases, agency officials said.

Angelina Jolie and her adopted daughter Zahara, who was originally from Ethiopia Photo: GETTY

By Mike Pflanz, Nairobi 9:00PM GMT 25 Mar 2011

In 2004, American families adopted almost 23,000 children from around the world, but by 2010 that figure had more than halved to 11,058, according to US State Department figures.

"We have stopped organising adoptions for overseas clients because it was just too hard to find good families," said Leah Kigutha, director of Maji Mzuri Children's Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

A surge in enquiries up to 2010 "attributed to publicity surrounding Madonna's case" had stalled as increased legislation governing adoptions was discussed by the US authorities, Ms Kigutha said.

The Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption entered into force in the US in early 2008, at the same time as Madonna's case to adopt David Banda, a Malawian toddler, was bogged down in a Lilongwe court.

Angelina Jolie had earlier adopted an Ethiopian girl, Zahara, in 2005, and had given birth to a natural daughter, Shiloh, in Namibia, in 2006.

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But it was Madonna's alleged circumventing of Malawi's regulations on adoption which demanded that a prospective parent live in the country for a year before adopting which raised hackles.

"So much changed at that time," said a British aid worker living in Nairobi who battled for three years to adopt a Kenyan orphan. She would not give her name to protect her son's identity.

"We had been jumping through bureaucratic hoops up until then, but we thought we were making progress. After the whole Madonna thing, everyone just became supersensitive about foreigners adopting African kids."

Statistics on adoptions from Kenya were not immediately available.

But the US State Department shows one African country which is bucking the downward trend.

Ethiopia last year remained the second most popular country for international adoptions to the US, after China, with 2,511 children starting new lives with American parents.

This was up from 2,275 the year before, and from just 284 in 2004, according to the State Department website.

"With or without Angelina and Brad, the world knows that there's an awful crisis of abandoned children here," said one adoption agency director in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital.

"We must hope that kind people keep coming here because the problem is still very much too large without them."

Getting Documents Together

So excited, I received an email back from an agency in the States that works with the agencies in Kenya.

They laid out the entire process for me. Unfortunately the process starts with the homestudy, so clearly I cannot do that right now.

In the meantime, though, I can be gathering all the certified and notarized documents that I will need for the I800A form.

Those will take a while to obtain, so at least I can do a little leg work on that now.

Here is a photo I found of the I800A form on someone else's adoption blog. Wowee!

(found on this site where she documented her timeline adopting from China)

Forming You

Today at church the children presented the adults each with a gift that they have been working on for the past 4 weeks in childrens' church. A framed Word from the Lord.

A little blonde haired girl walked up to me and handed me this frame.

I began to read it and immediately thought of our Baby.

This was such a great Word. Thank you Jesus.

Dear Baby,

I do not know whether you are born yet or whether you are still being formed, like the Psalmist describes. But I know God is making you in a wonderful way. You are already amazing, and I don't even know you yet! I trust that God will protect you and take care of you until we can be together.

I love you!

-Your Forever Family

Opening Doors

I am doing tons of research online.

I love that so much of the information I need is on the internet now. Even all the forms we will need.

I have found yahoo groups specific to adoption, one even specific to Kenyan adoption. Found many blogs of folks that have adopted in Kenya. Some even listed out in detail their timeline and process (thank you!). Found all three adoption agencies in Kenya online. Found online reviews and ratings of the US adoption agencies. I have sent an email to every agency and person I have come across that has an email address listed. And last night I received my first response email back from a Kenyan adoption agency!!

They informed me that, yes, the U.S. has had a moratorium on Kenyan adoptions for the past two years (because of the Hague Convention and new rules? I'm still not sure how all that works.)

HOWEVER, it was lifted at the end of February 2011, and now they have resumed their U.S. program!!!! "It is possible for you to pursue an adoption in Kenya while you are here." is the exact sentence from their email.

(Excuse me while I jump up and down repeatedly. Okay I'm back.)

They also told me which U.S. agency they work with, who to contact there, and what forms to fill out now. Apparently there are a few forms that take months to obtain approval for, so we can actually file those NOW and cover a lot of ground (read: waiting time!) before we even get to Kenya.

Thank you Jesus for continuing to open doors.

Dear Baby,

We are coming. I cannot think about you without crying. We long for you. We love you!

From: Your Forever Family

Trusting Him in the Details

This was an emotional day for me. I received an email from a friend who left Nairobi last year. When she was there, Kenya had just signed on to the Hague Convention, but had not finalized all the laws for local adoptions. (I think this is stated correctly.) As such, many folks (such as State Dept folk like myself) who were wanting to adopt there were simply not able to.

I called my husband at work and explained, unable to talk because I was crying.

I mean, I already love this baby immensely.

I don't pretend to have any idea of what God's plan is. I trust Him to take care of all the details.
I just know what He has placed in my heart and my husband's heart.

Kevin said this does not change anything. There are neighboring countries that also allow adoption, such as Ethiopia. And that's true. I just assumed it would be Kenya!

Jesus, I trust you.

I found this alert on State's website posted from a week ago. I cannot figure out if this is good news or bad news...

Adoption Alert

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues
__________________________________________________________________

March 2, 2011

Expect Adoption Delays

Kenya and the United States are party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (“Hague”). As such, all adoptions between Kenya and the United States initiated after April 1, 2008, must meet the requirements of the Hague Convention and its U.S. and Kenya law counterparts. The Government of Kenya is still in the process of amending its laws to mirror the procedural requirements of the Convention. In late 2010, Kenya adopted a new constitution and the government is currently drafting hundreds of pieces of new legislation required to implement the provisions of the new constitution. Due to this legislative back-log, legislation that will bring Kenya into full compliance with the Hague Convention may not be enacted for quite some time.

Until it is, Kenya’s Department of Children’s Services is willing to make administrative adjustments that will allow it to follow the procedural framework required by the Hague Convention. International adoptions that meet Hague Convention requirements can now be processed in Kenya. However, until Kenya’s international adoption laws are finalized, serious delays, expense, uncertainly, and difficulties could still arise with the Hague adoption process. The Department of State therefore advises American citizens to proceed with caution when deciding whether or not to adopt from Kenya.

The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi continues to be in contact with the High Court of Kenya and their Department of Children’s Services concerning the processing requirements of Hague adoption cases. Please continue to monitor this website for the most updated information as it becomes availabl

A Calling

I started a new blog. What a shock! I think I have like 17 blogs at this point.

But this one is a new topic for me - adoption :)

I have found so many helpful adoption blogs so far, and I hope to do the same thing for somebody else in my shoes in the future. I pretty much know nothing about adoption other than God has called us to adopt in Kenya. I don't even know what a homestudy is yet or a referral. I have a lot of research to do. Exciting!

Our adoption journey has been pretty cool so far. So stay tuned!