A toast on this day

We're sitting here sharing a bottle of wine, toasting to nothing, to everything. It's a good night, cool outside, the leaves not quite yellow not quite brown. It is the best night since we were matched with a little girl back in May because we received word today that that beautiful baby girl has received her release papers. This is the (almost) final major hurdle for us in our quest to bring her home.

So, what was going on? Some of you know, some don't, but here's the deal. Ethiopia is still not releasing abandoned babies for adoption (babies are classified as either abandoned or relinquished, the difference being whether or not a signature officially giving the baby up for adoption exists). Not very many people were in the position we were in, which was having been matched with an abandoned baby shortly before or during the investigation/ban that started back in June--the country is no longer matching abandoned babies with prospective parents. Since we were matched and unable to move forward we were stuck in limbo. The orphanage our little girl is at worked their asses off to find our baby's mother, and succeeded, despite the cultural taboos and odds. Not only did they find her, but they convinced her to sign a paper officially relinquishing her. This happened a few weeks ago. But, we still weren't in the clear. All the paperwork needed to be compiled and sent to the municipal authorities in order for the release to be given. Today, we received that release.

One of the previous posts mentioned a big decision was to be made by us. This decision was, assuming they couldn't find the mother, whether or not we continue on the same path with the same baby, or get a new match and "abandon" this one. It would've been impossible for us to do the latter. It would've been painful having to wait if we chose the former. Luckily, no decision was needed. We were lucky. Even more amazing is the fact that the 3 other babies who are cribmates of our daughter were in the same boat and all 3 mothers were found and signed the relinquishment paper. Amazing.

What next? We need to obtain the actual clearance form (called a CPR form, the irony not being lost on us), which we will sign and send back, where we officially accept her. After that, a court date (hopefully in late December, early January) will be set up for the Ethiopian courts to review all documentation, and when the gavel comes down she is ours for good. We will fly to Ethiopia about a month later to pick her up (hopefully February).
UPDATE: We just heard that one final hurdle remains. The mother of the baby MUST appear before the court to officially relinquish the baby during the above-mentioned court date. Seeing as how this is such a taboo in Ethiopia, this is definitely something to be concerned about. Here's to hoping she's willing to appear.

So, you might be asking yourself, "Who is this little girl you speak of?" Her name is Rodas, which we'll keep as her middle name. She is also a beautiful girl with dimples and a great giggly laugh (we know because we've been lucky to receive video of her from one of her cribmates' mother (thanks Jenny!) and from another person who traveled to pick up their own baby).

We promised pictures. So, without further ado, we present to you our precious Chloe Rodas Barrett:

These are the first pictures we were given of Rodas when we were matched with her, when she was only a month old. We will post more pictures in the future, and we promise to post more often now that we know she is ours and we finally have something to post about.

Thank you to all of you for your support throughout this. It's been trying, but we always knew it could be. Thanks for your patience in our lack of blogging. As you can imagine, we were drained and didn't always feel like talking about it. It was too emotional for us at times. We're happy to finally be on the last lap. Our legs are tired and our arms are tired, and we can see the finish line.