"You take it on faith, you take it to heart, the waiting is the hardest part"

(a little Tom Petty quote there...)

On July 1 we got word from our agency that our dossier was in the hands of Nepal's Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. This is great news!! Except for one small fact, there isn't an official "Minister" in place right now of the division of Women, Children and Social Welfare.

It's been a bit of stressful few weeks here. Work has been crazy busy for us both as we geared up the boatyard and marina for America's biggest summer holiday. Added to that stress is the fact that it feels as if our future is in limbo - at the hands of a country in a political mess (for lack of a better word). Each day I check the news in Nepal hoping for movement in the right direction. Nothing. Seems the powers that be can't even agree to disagree.

Political instability in a country such as Nepal is nothing new, this has been going on for a long time and surely will continue. We knew choosing Nepal had its risks, but the recent derailed peace process is something we couldn't have seen coming when we signed on.

I continually remind myself that we are treading on uncharted territory here though: Nepal's international adoption program just re-opened its doors in late January (and on a positive note there has been a lot of positive things develop in the last 4 months). But even if Nepal's government hadn't been turned upside down in early May with the Prime Minister quitting and parliament electing a veteran communist leader as the new PM, it is still considered a risky place to adopt from - because the program is so new and there are so many unknowns at this point in time.

In any case, we remain hopeful and optimistic things will continue moving in the right direction, not only for us and the fact that we want to become parents (like right now), but for the thousands of orphaned children living in extreme poverty, not to mention the people of Nepal who just want to live a free and happy life. Honestly though, some days it's hard to remain positive, particularly when learning a couple of families have decided to pull out of the Nepal program altogether, switching to another country. When I learn of this it only adds to my stress level. Of course their reasons for switching programs are varied and not all due to the recent political mess in Nepal. It's a personal choice, but it does of course cause you to wonder if you should be considering your options right about now. We definitely know we are not ready to make any drastic choices or change programs. We will sit tight, monitor things, and Matt will remind me, as he always has, that everything will be okay.


Here is a recent article from a Nepalese online newspaper that's worth a read:

A long wait for adoptive parents
Bureaucratic delays a hurdle in adoption of orphans

eKantipur.com - KATHMANDU, July 3 - "They're getting together in support groups. They're blogging. They're waiting.

Scan the various blogs by prospective adoptive parents in the West who want to adopt kids from Nepal, and one can sense how badly they want the adoption process to pick up pace.

But it has already been six months since the government asked prospective parents to submit their inter-country adoption papers, and not a single Nepali orphan has been handed over, because the "final decision" regarding the process has not yet been made.

"Tonight we turn our worries over to God and pray," says a blog entry by an American adoptive couple who call themselves ‘Jobon’. "We pray for our daughter, her caregiver, and the government of Nepal and all those who are in our shoes all over the world. We will trust that God has a plan and things will happen when they are meant to happen."

But that might mean quite a wait. The initial necessary paperwork for the adoption of more than 30 orphans is complete, but the process is still stuck.

So what's the holdup? "Some of the files submitted by the prospective parents have been pending, largely due to a delay in arranging a meeting of the recommendation committee," says Hari Kumar Paudyal, spokesman for the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (WCSW).

The recommendation committee, comprising representatives from Ministries of Home, Law and WCSW, will make the final decision. But sources in the WSCW say that they don't know when the committee will meet.

For the adoptive parents, who've already done the needful to get through all the preliminary processes — seeking permission from their governments to start the adoption process, getting in touch with adoption agencies back home, filing the required papers, going through the matching process (in which adoptive parents are paired with orphans in Nepal) — the final decision is out of their hands: it's the Nepali authorities' call now.

"The problem is with the ministry and orphanages," says an official at WCSW. The high-level ministry officials, he says, should take the initiative, after consulting with the Deputy Prime Minister since the ministry lacks a minister now, and because the ministry and orphanages have not been given high priority.

The process has also been delayed because most registered orphanages have not submitted their list of children available for adoption, he says. Out of the 38 registered orphanages in Kathmandu, only a few have submitted lists for a total of 250 children. The matching committee needs the list to select children in accordance with the adoptive parents' preferences.

Some officials also claim that orphanages have not cooperated with the ministry because a few are not happy with the new terms the government has set out.

The government last year created new rules for adoption after the media exposed the rampant corruption in the adoption process. The ministry had decided to put the process on hold for one-and-a-half years, until effective laws could plug the loopholes. Before the government took this step, there had been cases where agents had flouted adoption regulations to illegally procure babies for potential parents for large amounts.

But with the international community breathing down the government's neck, the government eased the ban and it came up with new rules to systematise the process. Under the new regulations, prospective parents have to deal with registered adoption agencies from their home country or Nepal-based embassies. Earlier, they directly dealt with orphanage homes. As there was no fixed adoption fee, parents often ended up paying huge amounts for the baby of their choice.

With the government enforcing the new rules, the adoption process has taken on a more formalised character now. For example, the adoption fee for each child has been fixed at $8,000 — which means that adoptive parents won't get overcharged. Furthermore, from the adoption fee, $5,000 will go to orphanages and $3,000 to the state coffers. The ministry has already collected over Rs. 15 million from the fee, some of which will be used to monitor the overall adoption process.

But unless the committee starts giving the final permission, the adoptive parents will have to continue waiting."