Hagelin Happenings

Below is the most recent update from our agency. We are praying that Baby Girl Hagelin will be home by Christmas 2010. Based on what we are hearing on the agency board, they are still handing out referrals (for girls) whose parents submitted their dossier in December 08.

Dear Steven & Michelle,
We have good news from Ethiopia this morning. As you may know, all adoption agencies operating in Ethiopia have been required to submit applications for new licenses. We submitted extensive financial and program information and the Ministries made on-site visits. AAI’s humanitarian projects were also reviewed and evaluated. A great deal of documentation from both the Ethiopian side and the U.S. side was required and submitted. We learned today that our license was renewed and that the new license is valid for three years. This is good news indeed.

We have been able to make some referrals this week. We have babies in the nursery waiting for more lab work to complete their medical reports, but a substance necessary for the lab test has been in short supply in Addis. Our nurse reports that the lab is expecting a new supply next week. Four new babies were admitted this week that I know of.

Many cases scheduled for hearing earlier this month were not heard because MOWA (Ministry of Womens Affairs, the govt agency in Ethiopia that handles adoptions) approvals were not given in time. MOWA offices were closed for meetings. Now those cases are being approved, but not as quickly as we and the families involved would like.

Gradually problems in the outlying areas are being worked out. By the end of the year we will be making decisions about whether to assign new children to families affected or not, depending on how likely it looks that we will be able to complete these cases in a timely manner. We apologize to those families who remain in limbo; events have occurred in those regions that we did not anticipate.

There have been also been some delays in getting new birth certificates and this has caused stress for some families planning to travel soon. Again, we are sorry and know it is very difficult for families who have made travel plans to have to worry about possible delay.

A number of families will actually spend Christmas Day in Ethiopia and will have visa interviews tomorrow. Ethiopians do not celebrate December 25th as a holiday; the celebration for the children will be January 5th or 6th.

Many families are celebrating the holiday with their newly adopted children and we are grateful for that and believe that many families receiving this email can expect to have their own new family member by this time next year.

Best wishes from Merrily and Susan and all the AAI staff