A family who experienced how important an orphan status verification can be shares their story:
In 2013 we began our second adoption partnering with Adoption Ministry of Ethiopia and Children’s House International. Our son Miles who is also from Ethiopia had been home with us for over two years at that point, and we were excited to grow our family even more. By the end of May, 2013 our homestudy was approved, on July 15th we received our I-171H. At that point we were really starting to get excited at the idea of being matched with another child, so on July 29th, when our agency informed us of a six and half month old baby boy, we were thrilled! We accepted the referral for Maranatha on August 1st. We were surprised and pleased that our case had been submitted to court on August 14, 2013.
In 2013 we began our second adoption partnering with Adoption Ministry of Ethiopia and Children’s House International. Our son Miles who is also from Ethiopia had been home with us for over two years at that point, and we were excited to grow our family even more. By the end of May, 2013 our homestudy was approved, on July 15th we received our I-171H. At that point we were really starting to get excited at the idea of being matched with another child, so on July 29th, when our agency informed us of a six and half month old baby boy, we were thrilled! We accepted the referral for Maranatha on August 1st. We were surprised and pleased that our case had been submitted to court on August 14, 2013.
Then everything changed when we received a phone call on
October 21st, 2013. Through the process of our case moving forward,
the details of Maranatha’s story came out. EthioStork conducted a thorough investigation
and an interview with the woman who had been involved in Maranatha’s first days
of life, and the investigation and interview revealed he had a twin sister. We
were both shocked and anxious, because at this point we really didn’t know if we
would be bringing Marantha and his twin sister home at all. There were so many
unknowns.
It wasn’t until November 7th that we were informed
we would be adopting both Maranatha and his twin sister, Amen. Our homestudy
indicated our desire for siblings, and our I-171H had approved us to bring home
siblings, so that part had not been a problem. We had actually hoped and prayed
for twins from the very beginning of this adoption. We could not have been
happier, we were not only growing our family, but we were bringing home
twins! We flew to Ethiopia weeks later and appeared in court on
November 21st, 2013; we passed. On February 20th, we were
interviewed at the US. Embassy in Ethiopia and flew home to the US with our
twins on February 22nd, 2014.
Our story is unique, I have never heard of anyone finding out
about a twin sibling, part way through an adoption. We are so grateful for the
hard work done by the wonderful people we work with at Adoption Ministry,
Children’s House International, and the investigations and interviews done by
EthioStork. If it weren’t for the diligent work of EthioStork, our twins could
have been separated for life, never knowing one another, never knowing their
story. We are grateful, beyond words. Thank you.
