Forgot the 2nd half

Oops, I forgot to post the second part of the e-mail. This portion is from Vickie, who is the Philippines Director for our adoption agency (Hand in Hand) as further explanation:

This email did not come as any surprise to us, and let me tell you why. As other countries’ adoption programs have either closed or lengthened or become more costly, an increasing number of families have turned to the Philippine program. Because the Philippines is so much smaller in size and population, there are not nearly as many children available for adoption as there is, for example, in China. So it is understandable that wait times might increase. In no way do we want families to give up on a Philippine adoption, but rather adjust the timeline you might have had in your head, just as families in the China adoption program have had to do.

Let me also expand on Mrs. Abejo’s mention of a new law they are trying to pass. Most children available for adoption in the Philippines have either been legally relinquished by a birthmother or declared abandoned in the court system. When a birthparent legally relinquishes a child, the clock starts and six months later the child is determined to be legally free for adoption. However, when a child has been abandoned, the process to declare the child abandoned in the Philippine court system will often take three or more years. Obviously, that child is that much older by the time he can be adopted and his opportunity to be adopted has dramatically decreased, since most adoptive applicants are asking for the match of a child under two years of age. (This is why they want this law to pass that would change the process so that the abandoned child can be legally free for adoption at a much faster pace.)

Considering all this, you might want to think about whether you want to stay firm to the age and health parameters you originally noted in your application or dossier. You might decide that you are willing to expand the age limit, or be open to more special needs or background conditions than you previously were, or even consider a sibling group of three or more children. If you want to do this, just let me know and I’ll give you a new Type of Child form to complete.

For families who already have dossiers in the Philippines , we can submit amended information at any time. As some of you have already experienced, the Inter-Country Adoption Board already has a practice of asking for an update after a family’s dossier has been there for over a year, with the update including a new Type of Child form, some new photos, a new Motivation to Adopt letter, and a home study update.

Like my friend, Nikki, mentioned in a comment to the post below, we are open to more special needs, so that may help. Also, our application/dossier was in before they began seeing the increase of applications. That may also help us. There are positive signs in all of this, but sometimes it's hard to see them. Thank you, Nik, for keeping the faith for me when I feel like I have none. I know God is good. I know He's got amazing plans for this. Right now I just feel sad. But I'm glad we've got His arms to hold us.