Adoption Update

So its high time to bring you up to date on where we are at in our adoption process. I’m so glad to be able to  be writing those words! It feels like we have been thinking and praying about it for so long and now it feels so good to actually feel the ball start rolling!

Once we got to the place where we felt assured that NOW is the right time to dive into this thing called adoption (how we got to that point is a post for another day!) we then

chose America World Adoption to be our agency. We had contacted them back in the fall of 2011 and were informed that we needed to meet a few requirements before we could start the paperwork. Steve needed to be 30 to adopt from China, however, they would allow him to start paperwork at 29 ½,  also our youngest child needed to be 6 month old. Both of those requirements were met in June, 2013 and we officially sent in an application to the agency and were approved shortly after. A few weeks later we found out I needed to have my GED before we would be allowed to officially start the paperwork. So while I refreshed myself in Algebra and Geometry and took the required tests, we waited some more….what a relief to have that coveted piece of paper!

That brings us to January, 2013. The start of a fresh new year! How thrilling to know that God walks before us in this new adventure!

We started off the year being assigned to our own personal family coordinator from the agency. She is the one that will walk us through the paperwork process. All the paperwork and documents we compile are put together into one binder and submitted to the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA). This fat packet of documents is called our DOSSIER. China uses this dossier to review our family and approve us for adoption. We are told this part of the adoption takes 4-7 month. We are aiming for the shorter of the two:) 

At the same time as we are working on the above required paperwork, we will also be doing our home study. This is a crucial part of the adoption process and can take several months. The home study is a written document that gives a comprehensive picture of our current life and back round. It must be submitted with our dossier.

I’ll try to give you a nutshell version of what we mean when we say “paperwork.” I know its long, so feel free to skip to the end!

* Order public documents such as, Birth Certificates, Marriage License. These each must be a certified, newly issued copy as it must be less than a year old when it is sent to China.

* Passports….all ready!

* Physical Examination for both parents, with specific lab test’s

* Police Report & criminal back round check

* 3 Reference letters written by friends who know us

* Employment Verification Letter for Steve & a non employment letter for Esther

* Psychological Evaluation.  The CCCWA requires this evaluation for one or both parents if we “qualify” for any one of the list of reasons they have for needing this evaluation. “History of loss or trauma” (Jadrian’s death) is the one that applies for us. We are still searching for a licensed Psychologist  who will do the required interview for less than $650 an hr per person!!

* Financial statement papers (very detailed w/ exact requirements. So glad Steve takes care of that department!)

*  Application letter ( the letter we write to CCCWA that includes info about our family, our reasons for wanting to adopt, the specific gender and age we desire to adopt, our commitment to caring for this child & a request for them to consider our family for adoption.

 Probably the thing that takes so much time in compiling these papers is that EVERY paper we write or receive we first email to our coordinator for her to review. When she approves them we take them to be notarized. Then we email them back to her to review the notary. When the notary is approved we mail them to our secretary of state to be certified. After that step is approved they get hand delivered to the China Consulate (in Albany, I believe) to be authenticated.

As for the home study, most of the above paper work is also being gathered for our social worker who is compiling our Home Study packet, and needs a copy of each. She sent us her own sheaf of documents we need to sign. (lots!) The children each needed a physical exam (done!) and Steve & I got finger printing & criminal clearance (done!). We are currently working on each writing our 2-4 page autobiographies of ourselves. It’s very thought provoking….every thing from your childhood, how you were parented, what was your growing up like….how did you meet your spouse…your attitude toward marriage…how do you handle disagreements….what has been our biggest conflict, how did we resolve it and what did we learn from it…to our parenting style…to describing our children…our home…our community etc. etc.

We also have a 10 hr online adoption training we are required to take, along with 3 books that are required reading.

We will have 4 separate meeting with our social worker, with at least one of them being in our home. We are excited to meet Samantha, and so grateful for her help in walking us through this.

Ok, this is the stage we are working through right now. There are a few more steps, but this is so long already, I’ll leave them for another day. Besides, I don’t quite understand them yet :)

I also hope to explain in another post how the Waiting Child program works that we are going with and how we get matched with a child.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have and I’ll try to do my best answering them.

Thank you for your prayers & support! They all make a difference!!!!! You are playing a role in making a difference in the life of one lonely, hurting orphan. Bringing him closer to his Forever Family!