What happened?

A lot of people have been asking that, so I will give you the basics, which we just figured out today (with some help).  As I said, the much delayed dossier submission date was a big surprise all round.

Alex's country has had two big things happen with its adoptions lately: the country restricted the special needs list they use for international adoption this past summer.  As is, you cannot adopt a child from his country unless he/she is five years old (and of course, available for adoption).  This is to encourage domestic adoption, which isn't very common there.  But if the child has special needs, and is available, that child CAN be internationally adopted after being on the register for one year (so as young as one year old).  On the new list this summer, many typical special needs were not on that list--including cerebral palsy, Alex's special need.

But Alex is five, right?  So it doesn't matter?  Mostly, it doesn't matter.  He is available for adoption, but since that list doesn't have CP on it, we are trying to adopt him through the "not special needs" venue.  Since there is a much longer list for developmentally typical children, we got placed by the government in that batch.  To make it more complicated, they have different batches by ages.  Since five years old is the youngest for developmentally typical international adoptions, we're in the biggest batch.  So we got this date of March 29th to submit the dossier.  From the govt's perspective, it's crowd control.

Finally, if you are really in the know with Reece's Rainbow, and you're thinking "hey--so and so just adopted a child with CP last week!  I don't remember that happening!", yes, well, the other big thing going on with his country's adoption practices: the gov't has been reorganizing the department of adoption.  So they just began applying the new rule with this first wave of dossiers (they've been not accepting dossiers over December and January).  We got a run of phenomenally bad luck with this.  It is no one person's fault at all.

One thing that would move this up dramatically is if the list of special needs could be updated, which the country's parliament has been batting around for weeks, and include CP.  Frankly, it should also include spina bifida, which requires treatment that country doesn't have, FAS, and HIV.  Right now, the list is basically Down Syndrome, other trisomy disorders, arthrogryposis, congenital blindness and/or deafness, and advanced mortal disease.  So praying for an expanded list would not only help Alex, it would help a lot of kids.  It could happen.  Other scenarios can move us up too.  Keep praying!

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Please let us share how touched we are that so many people are praying, and a surprising number fasting, with us.  This absolutely feels like the right thing to do.  And here I am at the end of the first day of no caffeinated Diet Coke, and I just have a bad cold, not the caffiene withdrawal headache!  (I did drink a coffee, not something I like, this morning to prevent the withdrawal symptoms, but still!)  I hope your prayers and fasting are going well.  We'll keep you updated!

--Susan