The One Sure Thing

So we’re learning that the only sure thing in a Ukrainian adoption is that nothing is a sure thing!

In the past couple of weeks, we have seen some major changes to our expectations. At the time of our last posting, we knew that our dossier was in the hands of our facilitator in Ukraine, but that there were some roadblocks at the SDA (the Ukrainian Adoption Ministry). We had no idea when our dossier would be submitted, and we feared that it might be summer before we would be invited to travel to Ukraine for the adoption. Given the uncertainty, we leaped at the chance to include Masha in a hosting program this March.

Shortly after this, we learned that one of the families in our group whose dossier was submitted in mid-January had received an invitation to travel to Ukraine in late March! This was great news, but we were afraid to pin our hopes on the timing for just one family…each family’s situation is very different from the next. Furthermore, we still had no idea when our dossier would be submitted.

About a week ago, we learned that our facilitator submitted our dossier at the SDA on 7 February. Although the SDA has 4 weeks to review our documents, register our dossier, and provide a travel date, it appears that they just might be moving a little faster. We are now hoping to hear from the SDA in the next couple of weeks, and thinking we might be invited to travel in late April or early May.

Of course, this led us to rethink Masha’s upcoming trip. The kids should be returning to Ukraine the first week of April. It didn’t seem to make much sense to put her through some 80 hours of travel time, if we’re likely to be travelling just a few weeks after. It’s like, “Bye-bye, sweetheart! See you next week!!”

After much prayerful consideration, we were about 95% sure we wanted to cancel when we received another email this past Friday. Our facilitators had made some additional inquiries and found that dropping Masha from the list for the March hosting program might not be looked upon favorably by the authorities at the SDA. Of course, this is another topic altogether that I might someday attempt to explain (if I ever figure it out myself). In the end, we have accepted that our facilitators have a much better grasp on the politics at play than we do. If they recommend green-lighting Masha’s trip, then we had better listen.

Bottom line: We get to see Masha in four weeks!!

We still don’t know for sure about the timing of our trip to Ukraine for the actual adoption, but we suspect/hope/pray that it will be soon after she goes back. It sure can’t be soon enough for us!