Yes it is true, Rwanda has signed the Hague Treaty and as a result they will not be accepting new dossiers after August 31st so that they can develop a new adoption system under the treaty. You can see their official statement at:
http://www.migeprof.gov.rw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=183&Itemid=131
While the initial reaction for me was sadness, this is actually a good thing in that the ultimate goal of becoming a Hague compliant country is that there will be further protections for the children, protection from corruption, stealing and false information. How long it will take for this process to happen and when new adoption applications will be accepted is unknown. I have heard that there is a very large number of dossiers already at the Minister of Gender and Family Promotions office so I am hopeful that these will be processed and the children who we saw at my son's orphanage will soon have their own forever families. Also there may be a few more dossiers able to arrive before the deadline. In order for the dossier to be processed it has to first go through the Rwandan Embassy in DC where a letter of non-objection is issued. It is then sent onto Rwanda. So there are families right now who were so close who are scrambling and getting on airplanes to get those precious documents to DC in time for this to happen. Their lives and the lives of their future children depend on many pieces of paperwork being managed in the nick of time. As far as families who were not that close, from a quick scan of blogs and chat groups it sounds like some are looking into other options and some are thinking about waiting it out for Rwanda adoptions to reopen. I would hope that the adoption agencies would be willing to work with these families and let them transfer over the fees that they have already paid to a different adoption program if that is what the prospective adoptive parents decide to do. As far as waiting it out, it may be a very long wait as ratifying to the Hague Treaty is not a fast process.
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