Alright, so you know how I referred to something about the orphanage “running out of babies” yesterday? As to not mislead you, allow me to elaborate…

After next to no movement in Rwanda in 2010, there has been an exciting stream of approvals and referrals in the past few months. Groups of families continue to fly to Rwanda to bring their children home. It has been awesome. Really, really awesome.

A result of so much movement is obvious: fewer orphans! Historically, nearly all children adopted from Rwanda have come out of one orphanage. The ministry likes to work with Mother Teresa’s Home of Hope, as the nuns at the Home of Hope tend to be more adamant about only accepting “true orphans”. And, remember, only “true orphans” (abandoned children or children whose parents have passed away with no other relatives) may be adopted out of Rwanda, and even then, the government require proof through police reports, etc. This is a good thing, as it makes very clear that the ministry in Rwanda is committed to legitimate, ethical adoptions.

So, as babies from the Home of Hope are referred and placed in families, cribs lie open. We have been warned that the wait for a baby under two may now be longer due to the large number of babies adopted from this one orphanage recently. Hallelujah, right?! That’s what we want!

But, let’s just remember for a second that there are many other orphanages in Rwanda, and still an estimated one million orphans there. It’s not like all babies have homes. Quite the contrary. We are now praying that the ministry would look to other orphanages and allow them to open up for adoption. And if they do “run out” of orphaned babies in Rwanda, what a glorious day that would be indeed!

*As a super important sidenote, there are still many, many children over the age of two who still need homes. And the older they get, the “less adoptable” they become. While our wait for a baby might be extended, it would likely be quicker to adopt an older child. With our particular situation, adopting an older child is not a possibility, as we are unable to adopt out of birth order. However, I’m super grateful to other families who are bringing home these older children.