An email:

Thursday our case went to court. The judge decided to classify it as an abandonment. Our son is around 9 years old and has been at the orphanage for about a year. He was not actually abandoned. He ran away from an abusive home. But of course, without the relinquishment signature, the case was thrown into the abandonment category. This delay is particularly frustrating to me because of his age and his background. I don't think there's much demand among adoption traffickers for 9 year old boys...Have you heard of other cases involving older children? We're the only one with our agency.