Got the official news from our agency today. Here's some important info. from their e-mail...

*Roughly 50% of families currently do not pass court on their first issued court date.

*If a family does not pass court initially, a new court date may be issued approximately 1-1.5 months after the original court date or a few weeks after the original court date.

*Families who received referrals on the same day (or within the same week or few weeks) as other families will not necessarily have a court date within the same week or few weeks. Each adoption is unique and court dates do not always fall within chronological order of receiving a referral. The paperwork needed to secure a court date, and the time frame to acquire the paperwork, is unique for each adoption.

*You can expect communication from America World within 24-48 hours after your court date.

Your family’s court date is December 24, 2009. Please note your court date is scheduled on a day America World’s Corporate office will be closed. We will still contact your family to inform you of the outcome of your court date regardless. Likely you will receive an email with news of your court date.

Once your family has successfully passed court, you can expect to travel to Ethiopia roughly 4 to 5 weeks later.