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Update on our Adoption Process:
Where do we even begin??? We knew from the beginning of this journey it was going to
be a long process, but I don’t think I fully realized the detailed paperwork
that was involved. Let me just
give you one example: We have to order NEW birth certificates and marriage
certificates. The originals in our
safe at home won’t suffice so we had to get online order new birth certificates
from New Jersey (John), and Georgia (Laura). This cost 85$ each (this is not included in our estimated
adoption cost.) Mine took 3 weeks and John’s took a full month to arrive in our
mail box. Now it gets better……If
this is not enough we then had to send the certificates back to Georgia and New
Jersey to get State Sealed or Apostille of approval. This cost more money and takes more time. Each state process is different
therefore more forms are filled out more phone calls are made and whew after
all of the head twirling it kind of makes raising a one and three year old seem
pretty easy. Let me say the birth
certificates are only 1 of 17 things included in our Dossier. Each “thing” has its own process of
obtaining as well. I won’t bore
you with all the details but now I know why they call it a “paper chase”!!
TIMING:
7/2013 Felt God Call us to Adoption (though we had thought
about it for years)
9/2013 attending our first adoption interest meeting
1/2014 submitted our formal application to Bethany
2/2014 started the home study process 1 of three visits all
2 weeks apart
6/2014 got the final approval for our home study and
therefore accepted into the China waiting child program (took much longer than
we anticipated)
6/3/2014 Filed out I800A- this is immigration. Our child will be a US citizen when we
bring him/her home (more on this
below)
NOW- dossier preparation. Every Country is different but in China you can not submit your Dossier without getting
immigration approval first (I-797) we are still waiting on approval and
meanwhile getting all the other legal documents together.
Goals (praying for God’s timing not ours)-
·
Hopefully submit our entire Dossier to our
Agency by end of August
·
Bethany will review and submit to Washinton DC
for Authentication
·
It will then be sent to CHINA! Once China receives the entire Dossier
we will get a LID(log in date).
This is actually when the clock starts…..I know crazy right. So those first 9 months didn’t really
count as waitingJ
·
We will then be in line to get a referral. (more on this below)
I800 A- This is a
form filed to US immigration to determine the suitability to adopt from a
“Convention country”. This means
countries that practice the HAGUE approved laws. China is apart of the convention county. This process can take up to 90 days. During the 90 days they will send you a
letter stating that you are to get Biometrics testing (fingerprinted). They give you a time and location and
you have to show up. We received
the letter 2 weeks before our appointment ,which was yesterday! So it is almost day 30 since we
originally submitting the I 800 A.
Hopefully we will have approval by end of August.
What is a Dossier?
This is all the legal documents that we have been working on
for the past 9 months. It is
everything in its original form!
This is what is sent to CHINA.
The following is included:
1.
Application Letter to China explaining why we
are adopting
2.
Birth certificates- newly issued and state
sealed
3.
Marriage certificate- newly issued and state
sealed
4.
Verification of employment letters- notarized
and state sealed
5.
Financial statement- notarized and state sealed
6.
Medical suitability- full exam including blood
work- notarized and sealed
7.
Policed clearance- notarized and sealed
8.
Home study- ours is 23 pages single spaced-
notarized and sealed
9.
Immigration I800A approval- I 797- notarized and sealed
10. 3
family Reference letters- notarized
11. Doctors
letter of support- notarized
12. Copy
of passports
13. Photos-
front of house, back of house, child’s future bedrooms, close up of mom and
dad, close up of each child in home, picture of family doing an activity, and
picture of other room (your choice) in home.
14. Copy
of all your Continuing Education certificates- We will have completed 30 hours
of CE each. This includes
education on adopting in general, Chinese culture, adopting children with
special needs, and more.
15. License
of Adoption Agency
16. Copy
of Service Plan- This keeps a running track of all the dates of our legal
paperwork. The reason this is
watched so closely is because each document must be renewed every year before
expiration.
17. Last
is MONEY. (I will not speak of
this now. This is going to be an entire
blog post in itself).
What is a referral you might
ask? This is a child chosen by our agency that they believe will fit
with our family based on what we can offer them medically, emotionally,
spiritually, and physiologically. It
is basically the best fit for our family and the child’s special needs. There are thousand of waiting children
so the agency does its best to get to know us as a family and try to match us
accordingly. For example: Because
we move more frequently than other families we are not a good candidate for a
baby that needs weekly blood transfusions. We never know where exactly we will move and if we are moved
to a rural area it may not have the resources close enough to care for the
child while not burdening the other children in the home.
Once we receive a referral we have
48 hours to review the child’s medical profile. This can include pictures, blood work, Cat scans, MRI and
other medical history. If we do
not feel comfortable with the medical needs or feel we cannot provide for the
child with the resources around us then we can decline a referral. I KNOW. This is heart breaking and when I first heard it I thought
really who would ever decline a referral,
But the more I prayed about it the more I realized we are responsible
for making wise decision for the child’s health and the other children in our
home. While John and I have NOOOOO
intention of turning a referral down, we must be very upfront with our agency
about what we can handle and what resources are around us before they match
us. Please pray for Bethany (our
Agency). I cannot imagine the huge
task they have matching children with families. Pray for God’s hand to match these sweet children with their
forever families.
Well that’s it. A crazy, head twirling process! If you haven’t noted already we call
him/her Baby China. With each of
our pregnancies we have had nicknames for the baby. Everett was BB and Nora was Peanut. Though not very original, the name Baby
China has stuck and he/she is already growing in our hearts! Please continue to pray for us, but
especially for Baby China who is most likely lying in a crib by him/herself
without a mom and dad to hold! I
think when I get my arms around Baby China I may never let go! We love you all!
