It’s been a while since I’ve talked about adoption, and even then I didn’t have any news. Well, we have news, but it’s not exciting.

Last week we got an e-mail from our agency informing us that all the expected wait times are going to be longer. What was a 6-9 month wait is now a 12 month wait. The end of September would have been 9 months of waiting for us, but now we’ll likely be waiting until the end of December or later. It’s frustrating, to say the least.

I was talking to someone on Sunday who compared the adoption wait to being pregnant but having your due date continually moved back. That’s about how it feels. At least when you’re pregnant you know that baby is coming out, one way or the other. With adoption it’s just waiting for that phone to ring. Waiting, waiting, waiting. There’s no expanding tummy to remind everyone that the time is neigh. There’s no ticking clock telling you the wait will eventually be over. There’s no making plans that involve a new member of the family, because you never know for sure when they’ll be there. Nine months ago I would have told you to plan on buying a Christmas present for that baby. Now the chances of that are pretty slim.

We’re trying to stay upbeat. Trying to remind ourselves that spring might be better timing. Trying to tell ourselves this gives us more time to decide what color to paint the baby’s room. We’re trying, but it’s hard.

Especially when you see articles like these, talking about 12 million Ethiopians affected by food shortages, or a starving 16-year-old as the face of failed farms or orphan children trying to simply survive.

It’s heart-breaking.