Dear Friends,  

Today we received the following update on the adoption process in Ghana:

The Department of State, Office of Children's Issues has issued the following alert regarding adoptions from Ghana.

The Government of Ghana has temporarily suspended processing of all adoption cases, including intercountry adoptions, pending Ghana's review of its current adoption procedures. The U.S. Embassy in Accra is seeking further clarification of the scope and duration of this temporary suspension by the Government of Ghana and how this suspension may effect pending adoptions. The U.S. Embassy will continue processing adoption cases already approved by Ghanaian authorities.

The Department of State will continue providing updated information on adoption.state.gov as it becomes available.  If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the Office of Children's Issues at (888) 407-4747 within the United States, or (202) 501-4444 from outside the United States. Email inquiries may be directed to AdoptionUSCA@state.gov.

The most urgent question for most of you is probably, "How will this affect our adoption?"

For families who have not received a referral or have not yet gone to court, I believe we will have to take a "wait and see" attitude. As we get more information from the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, we will discover if this is temporary and if you will still be able to complete an adoption. If over time this becomes something more permanent, we will address this with each family to consider their options and work through their feelings about the change.

For families who have already been through court, this should not affect your adoption. All of you are already at the point where you are getting close to completion of your adoption and have already been approved by the Ghanaian authorities. The U.S. Embassy will continue to process these cases as noted above. We will still keep a close eye on developments and keep you updated as we go forward.

These kinds of changes can be frustrating and scary for families who have adopted and/or still wish to adopt from Ghana. Please don't hesitate to call or email me to talk and to process these feelings.

Thanks,

Marquita Thompson

(360) 452-4777, ext. 17

marquita@adoptionadvocates.org