Kenyan Government Throws Adoption Process into Turmoil

We have an important prayer request.  We woke up this morning with some disturbing news from the President of Kenya, and we're not sure how it will affect us.  

As of today, Kenya has declared a stop to all foreign adoptions because of concerns of child trafficking.  

I've talked to our lawyer's office; nobody is really sure what this means.  Our lawyer thinks this includes our adoption, but the partner's understanding is that because we are Kenyan residents, and ours is a local adoption, that this won't affect us in the long run.  We just can't be sure of anything right now.  Nobody is sure of anything right now.

We knew going into this that there were no guarantees.  We totally believe God wanted us to love Chloe unconditionally and whole-heartedly trusting Him with our own hearts; this is what we are still doing.  Love takes risks, and it casts out fear; it does not bury its head in the sand, though.

We have been advised by our lawyer to just keep plugging along on all our paper work - so family, we still need those consent forms - there will be a lot of political backlash on the president because he's basically come out and yanked the licenses of all the lawyers and adoption agencies, accusing every children's home, lawyer, and adoption agency that handles international adoptions of child trafficking.  We have to just wait and see how things play out.  

It is possible, however, that in a few hours, Jedidah (the director of the children's home Chloe comes from) will call us and tell us she has to take Chloe back to the children's home for the time being.  We just don't know.

Please pray for our situation with Chloe.  We love her, and we will continue to love her.  Our total confidence is in the fact that God loves us, and He loves her.  Our desire is to be able to make her a permanent part of our family; we know that is a godly desire, but we also know we have to entrust our future and Chloe's future to God's perfect plan.  So, we go on in hope - through tears - through uncertainty - through prayer...

We are not the only family possible affected by this.  We have two very dear friend also in the process of adoption.  One family was just getting ready to set their court date; that will most likely be postponed for an undefined period of time. This is very difficult for them because they are planning to leave Kenya permanently in the next year or two.   Another family is infertile and had just been placed with a beautiful baby boy whom they love dearly.  Please pray for these families and other families stuck in this no-man's-land of political maneuvering.  .

You know, it's frustrating.  Child traffickers are not going to stop doing what they are doing.  There are over 2,000,000 abandoned and orphaned children in Kenya.  As a general rule, Kenyans don't adopt.  I said, general rule. This ruling is not going to help the children of Kenya.  There is so much sex trafficking and child trafficking done within the borders of Kenya - without the child ever leaving the country.  *Sigh*

Your prayers are coveted.  

Another Chloe Update

Hello everyone!

                I hope this finds you all doing well and truly basking in God’s love and grace!  We here in the Tate household have a daily reminder of this in the form of a little blessing named Chloe; she is a day-to-day, tangible parable of how God’s love for us reached out and embraced us while we were small, helpless, destitute.  As we hold her, talk to her, sing to her, and adore her, we are in awe that the Creator of the universe feels this way about His adopted children.  Zephaniah 3:16-17 says, “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:  ‘Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak.  The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.’”

                

            As little Chloe sleeps in her bassinet just a few feet away from me, I am amazed at the beautiful analogy God has given us.  What parent hasn’t rejoiced over their little ones?  What parent hasn’t quieted their little ones with whispered words of love?  What parent hasn’t rocked their child and let their joy spill out into timeless lullabies?  As Roger and I look at Chloe, we are astounded that the same love we felt for the precious children to which we physically gave birth is also the love we now feel for this little, abandoned, helpless, destitute child.  And now this child who shares no common ancestry with us (not recent, anyway), no common culture, no common DNA, feels just like part of our family.  She is no longer abandoned, helpless, or destitute!  She is embraced, adored, accepted, and provided for.  This is how God feels about us!

               

          Scripture is rife with the imagery of adoption.  And now, God has called Roger and I to embark on a journey that is a picture of His love for us.  On November 6, 2014, Roger sat on a sofa in our living room with tears glistening in his eyes as he held this precious little Kenyan child.  He looked up at me and said, “I want to give myself a birthday present.  A new daughter.”  And so our journey has begun.  Our families are supportive as well as our children.  We’ve been in contact with our adoption agency, and our lawyer; everything looks positive.

                

         The adoption laws in Kenya are a little, well, ambiguous – much like many laws here.  There are basically two ways to adopt a Kenyan child.  Either an international adoption (a.k.a. “Hague” adoption), or a residential adoption (a.k.a.  “non-Hague” adoption).  In an international adoption, there would be no way we would be able to adopt Chloe because we already know her.  We would have to be placed with her sight-unseen after having been approved as adoptive parents.  The residential adoption, on the other hand, while it still discourages adoption of a child you already know, does not prohibit it.  Since we have been legal residents of Kenya for over 6 years now, we can adopt Chloe through this means.

                

         We have a long road ahead, and I’m sure it won’t be without obstacles and bumps along the way.  Probably even roller-coasters.  When a child is abandoned, a police report is filed.  If, after six months, no family has come to claim the child, then that child is available for adoption.  Chloe’s was filed October 21.  As we wait for her to be released for adoption, we will file paperwork to become approved adoptive parents.  Once these two things are finalized, we will be able to file for a court date.  There will be two court dates, and at the second one, the judge will either approve or reject the adoption.  Finally, after two years of being Chloe’s legal adoptive parents, the US will allow us to immigrate her and she will be able to become a legal citizen.  This two-year waiting period is basically a punishment the US levies against us for doing a Non-Hague adoption. 

                

          Meanwhile, as we wait for all this to happen, we will be able to keep Chloe with us as an agreement with Mercy Rescue Trust, the children’s home to which she was assigned.  Please pray for us as we go on this journey; it has unforeseeable twists and turns to be sure, and we are learning to walk step-by-step in faith in whole new ways. 

                

          We have already decided the name that will be on her adoption papers.  Chloe; this is the name given to her by the staff at the children’s home.  It comes from I Corinthians.  Thamani (Thuh-mah’-nee);   this is the Kiswahili word for precious, full of worth, full of value.  Nasimiyu (Nah-see-mee’-yu); this is the surname given by her birth-mother.  Tate; of course, this is our surname.  We know it’s a long handle for such a little sprout of a thing, but we want to honor all these people who have been a part of her life, and we hope that someday, it will give her a certain sense of identity (the mother’s surname indicates which tribe she is from). 

                

          Well, I guess that is all for now, except I should tell you that Chloe is growing beautifully!  At the ripe old gestational age of 37 weeks now, she is about the same exact size Emily was (at the same gestational age) when we brought her home from the hospital almost 20 years ago.  Chloe weighs 5.6 pounds now!

           I will keep you updated on what’s going on as things change and progress.  There is no guarantee things will turn out the way we are hoping, but we know God is in control, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the path God wants us on right now. 

                

          God bless you all.  Remember who you are in Christ, and when you forget, think of Chloe.