Reconciling MOWA Numbers

I have been trying to understand and reconcile the numbers on adoption files that MOWA processes. In 2009 and again in 2010, MOWA approved fewer than 5,000 foreign adoptions total (with about 1/2 of those by Americans). JCICS and others kept saying that MOWA's proposed slowdown to 5 file reviews/day would be a decrease of 90%, with 50 adoption files/day reviewed by MOWA prior to the new policy (10,000 files reviewed each year if MOWA reviews files 200 days/year). The difference between 5,000 adoptions and 10,000 file reviews was bugging me until I stumbled on the explanation:

MOWA reviews each adoption case at two points in the process:

1.  after the referral of the child to prospective adoptive parents.  If MOWA confirms that the child is eligible for adoption and approves of the match, it issues the MOWA approval letter that is required for the adoption to be finalized by the court.

2. after the final court decree.  MOWA reviews the file again, including the court decree, to approve issuance of the child's new birth certificate and passport.

5,000 foreign adoptions = 10,000 file reviews by MOWA = 50/day for 200 days/year.

Any slowdown in file review would affect the timing of an adoption at both of these points, delaying the processing time between a child's referral and final adoption decree as well as the time between the adoption decree and the issuance of a new birth certificate and passport, which are required to obtain a U.S. VISA to bring a child home.  Such delays simply cannot be in the best interests of the children.  We continue to pray that the leadership in Ethiopia will find better alternatives.