The Benefits of Not Being First

I did not think I would get to a point where I would be writing this post, but there is quite a bit of craziness going on. I have done plenty of whining about not being included in the last US Embassy investigation, but a part of me is becoming relieved. Things are not going well for that group of families from my agency, who are among the first who went through the new investigation procedures. Paperwork is lost, the children's passports are not ready on time, and their appointments are being pushed back. There are vast miscommunications between our agency and the embassy and other Congolese officials. Adoptive families are losing money because they have to change or cancel their plane tickets. They are also having a hard time finding a place to stay in Congo. Kinshasa is a large city, but there are few hotels that are affordable and safe. To limit the choices more, some hotels do not allow adoptive families to stay there. Some families have had their bags packed for weeks and are still not allowed to travel. When they do get to go to Congo, they do not know when they will be allowed to leave to come home again.

 The stress that these families are going through is horrible. Unfortunately there is never a point in the adoption process that once we reach it, it is just easy sailing from there on. We have to fight for our children until the moment we bring them through our front door. I must say I am a little relieved to not be in the "guinea pig" group and hopefully everybody will learn from all this craziness. I hope the US Embassy learns how to make the process smoother and quicker. I also hope our agency will hire more reliable and hard working people on the Congo side of things. The one guy they have now is extremely overwhelmed at this point. Of course I am willing to go through all these hardships and stress to get to my son. However, since being in this first group is not an option, I can sit back and try to learn what I can and be as prepared as possible and hope things are better by the time it is my turn. (And all the while I am praying that my two worst fears will not happen: that our son will not die while we wait and that the Congo adoption program does not close).