This one is for all the friends and family who are asking the big 'When' question. The real answer is, anything can happen and we don't really know when it will. But here is a general timeline as I see it.
Homestudy and collection of documentation -- a few months
Ours began in April and is almost done now.
Ontario Ministry Approval -- about 12 weeks. Dossier is then sent to Ethiopia for review/approval -- (I hope it's there by Christmas)
Referral-- This is where the real waiting begins...hopefully within six months (so maybe by June 2009) we'll get our baby's photo and a very limited amount of information.
Final Wait--The baby undergoes a final medical and then we have to wait for either Canadian Citizenship or a Permanent Resident Visa. We have the choice between which one we apply for, and at this point, there is no clear advantage in time between the two. This process can take between 2 and 6 months. Our baby will be under 12 months old when we first see his/her picture. However, due to the process, our little one could be up to 18 months old by the time we bring him/her home.
So if all goes well, we will be traveling to Ethiopia around the fall of 2009!!! (I've put the year in bold because people keep asking me when we'll be booking flights. It really is a long process!) It seems far away, but we are keeping busy and actually I think it will be easier on Katie and Nate when they are a little older, as we will likely be gone at least a week.
