Hamilton couple celebrates adoption through salvaged Cambridge agency
Hamilton couple celebrates adoption through salvaged Cambridge agency
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Karyn and Kenneth Black found out on Wednesday they have be ...
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December 19, 2009
BY JOHANNA WEIDNER, RECORD STAFF
HAMILTON — After so much heartbreak and disappointment, Karyn and Kenneth Black can’t imagine a better surprise for the holidays.
The Hamilton couple got the good news on Wednesday that they finally have two daughters to adopt and the girls will be coming home to Canada from Ethiopia in a matter of months.
“We couldn’t ask for a better gift for Christmas than these two little girls,” Karyn said.
The Blacks were among more than 400 Canadian families affected when the Cambridge-based Kids Link International Adoption Agency, operated as Imagine Adoption, went bankrupt in July.
The agency’s collapse devastated the Blacks, who had been matched with two siblings but not all the paperwork was completed to make the adoption official.
They had to let go of the siblings after more than two years waiting to adopt.
Bankruptcy trustees stepped in to complete adoptions for about 40 clients who had already been matched with children, and figure out the options for salvaging the agency to help the hundreds of other families at various stages of the adoption process. Waterloo Regional Police are conducting a fraud investigation into alleged claims for personal expenses by the agency’s former executives.
In September, the majority of clients voted to restart the agency with a new board of directors and executive director, after each kicked in an extra $4,000 on top of the fees of about $15,000 each family had already paid.
The new agency officially formed at the end of November and it was expected referrals wouldn’t begin until March, and then only a small number in the first half year.
“This is really impressive,” Karyn said. “It’s really the boost of confidence everybody needed.”
Four families including the Blacks found out this week they had adoption referrals matching them to children. The Blacks are the only ones getting two children.
The news was reason to celebrate for all the families waiting for their own adoptions.
“It really signals to everyone that their adoption is going to happen,” Karyn said. “Everybody is celebrating like it’s their own.”
Many gathered at the Black’s home on Wednesday night to share champagne and congratulations. Almost three years after starting the adoption process, the call was a dream come true for the couple.
“It was spectacular,” Karyn said.
Abebech is three, and Alimetu is 10 months old.
Photographs of the sisters, along with a few details of their background, is all the Blacks have so far. But the family bond is already strong.
“We have two beautiful little girls,” Karyn said proudly.
And the work is already started to bring them home.
A court date in Ethiopia is needed to transfer custody from the orphanage to the Blacks, and then visas must be issued to complete the adoption — a process that will likely take three to six months.
When all that’s done, Karyn said, they’ll finally be united with their daughters.
“Then we can literally get on a plane and go the next day.”
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