Q. What is the FBI?A. FBI stands for "Forensic Blogging Initiative." This is a little something I do in my spare time to track the process of Gladney Ethiopia families from the paperchase stage to their forever families. As the FBI progressed, it also became a place to connect with others in the adoption process and celebrate all the families who have completed adoptions from Ethiopia. The FBI was started in January, 2008.
Q. How do I participate in the FBI?A. Email me (grace) at yellow_grace at yahoo dot com. Please include all pertinent information including your blog or family name, where you are in the process, pertinent dates, and age/gender preference.
Q. Wht's this I hear about court closures? How will this affect me?A. Each year, the courts in Ethiopia close for the rainy season. The courts are generally closed early-August to early-October. While the courts are not processing cases during their closure, Gladney does continue to give referrals. Families who have had a successful court date prior to court closure will still be able to travel during court closure as the American Embassy in Ethiopia (the agency issuing the visa to your adopted child) remains open. When courts re-open in the fall, there can be a backlog of cases, and there can be a longer-than-normal wait to receive a court date.
Q. What does "judgement postponed" mean?A. There are 2 critical components of a court date. The first is the "opinion" issued by MOWA (Ministry of Women's Affairs.) This is the agency in Ethiopia that works to ensure ethical and legal adoptions as well as acting as the advocate for the adoptee. The second is the actual court ruling itself. The judge has many roles, one of which is to verify the orphan status of the child by handling things such as the legal relinquishment of the child by the birth parent(s). Often, if a judgement is postponed, it is because the judge did not have a piece of information (such as the opinion from MOWA, or paperwork from the birthparent) in order to finalize the adoption. The judge may perform some parts of the legal adoption process such as legal relinqishment by the birth parent(s) and leave the case "open" so that when the opinion arrives from MOWA, the judge can rule on the case without re-scheduling a court date. Sometimes, however, a second court date is needed.
Q. Why do some families have more than one court date?A. There are several reasons why a second court date might be needed. First, a piece of information that is needed may be missing, such as the opinion from MOWA. Second, a person who needs to be present on the day of court, such as the birth parent, may not be available on the original court date. Third, the judge may request additional information. Fourth, there may be technical difficulties, such as a power outage. Finally, even judges take days off, and there were several cases that had to be rescheduled when the judge took a day off work! I am sure there are other reasons as well. Gladney does a great job of keeping court-process families aware of anything that may be affecting their case.
Q. What's up with the difference between singles and married couples in terms of wait times for referrals?A. In 2008, one of the government offices associated with the adoption process in Ethiopia (namely, MOWA) changed their policies regarding single women adopting from Ethiopia. Gladney was affected by these changes and informed that as of the 2008-2009 court year, the court would process fewer single parent adoptions. All agencies operating in Ethiopia were affected similarly. Based on these changes, wait times for referrals for single parents are different than wait times for married couples as Gladney will only be allowed to submit a limited number of single parent cases to the Ethiopian court.
