We are still waiting the the homestudy report. Patience is wearing thin. Our homestudy should have been completed about two weeks ago and we still have not heard a thing. The fourth and final visit from our social worker was on February 26th. It was then that she notified us that Katie would need a physical after all. We asked her to write the report and add the paragraph about Katie when the paperwork from the doctor was completed. We quickly arranged an appointment for Katie and submitted the paperwork two weeks ago. Hard to believe it could take two weeks to write the final paragraph!!
Steve called the adoption agency on Monday. I followed with a polite but strong email on Tuesday. The social worker is contracted through the agency. They intervened on our behalf and we are told the report will be submitted to the agency this week for proof reading. We are not sure how long that will take. Hopefully it will be ready to send to the INS next week.
My friends who have adopted told me to enjoy the home study process seeing that is the part where you have the most control over. Everything after this is really out of our hands. If this is control, we are in for a long and hard journey over the next year. My mantra has been "patience, patience, it will be over soon." Some days that mantra works better than others!!
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
What's next
The whole adoption process is just that, a process. Nothing comes easily but I guess that could be said for pregnancy too. We are waiting for our home study to be written and edited. It will then go to the INS. We have already been fingerprinted and applied to bring the baby into United States. Once the home study is there it will take about 4-6 weeks, or so we hear, for approval.
Once the INS gives us the approval we will add that to the documents for our dossier. The dossier is the information that will be translated into Chinese and sent over to China. Our dossier is almost ready to go, minus the approval. Once the approval comes all of the documents need to be notarized, then certified at the county and state level.
The documents will then go to Adoptions Together, ATI, and be translated and sent to the Chinese consulate. They will then sent to China where they will be for 6-8 months before we get our referral. With the referral we will get a picture and some medical information. If we accept the referral we will travel to China two weeks to two months after the acceptance. We will be in China for 10-14 days but get our daughter on day three or four.
This website will allow us to document the journey and update all those close to us.
Once the INS gives us the approval we will add that to the documents for our dossier. The dossier is the information that will be translated into Chinese and sent over to China. Our dossier is almost ready to go, minus the approval. Once the approval comes all of the documents need to be notarized, then certified at the county and state level.
The documents will then go to Adoptions Together, ATI, and be translated and sent to the Chinese consulate. They will then sent to China where they will be for 6-8 months before we get our referral. With the referral we will get a picture and some medical information. If we accept the referral we will travel to China two weeks to two months after the acceptance. We will be in China for 10-14 days but get our daughter on day three or four.
This website will allow us to document the journey and update all those close to us.
Waiting parents meeting
We attended our first waiting parents meeting at Adoptions Together on February 28th. We met a family who brought home their daughter in August. She was beautiful. We just wanted to take her home. They had tons of good information about the trip to China. It was very informative.
We attended our second meeting last night. Anne's friends Pam and David were there with their daughter they brought back in October. She is so beautiful. Pam, an interpreter, is signing with her and she is picking up English and sign very quickly. There was also a family who just got back in January with their daughter. She is adorable. These meetings are very informative and supportive in nature. They are really getting us excited about adding to our family.
We attended our second meeting last night. Anne's friends Pam and David were there with their daughter they brought back in October. She is so beautiful. Pam, an interpreter, is signing with her and she is picking up English and sign very quickly. There was also a family who just got back in January with their daughter. She is adorable. These meetings are very informative and supportive in nature. They are really getting us excited about adding to our family.
Getting started
We submitted our application to Adoptions Together on November 27th, 2004. We were very excited about getting the long process started. About one week later we got a thick blue book in the mail jammed packed with information regarding the adoption process and international adoptions. Anne could not wait to read through the information. The information presented painted a very real picture international adoptions with all its ups and downs. We knew the road ahead of us would be filled with paperwork and headaches as we waited for the arrival of our daughter.
We told Katie and Nick about their new sister on December 3rd. They were both excited with Katie stating she always wanted to be a big sister. We met with the social worker who would be completing the home study on December 18th. She gave us a huge packet of information and went through each form with us.
We took advantage of the week off between Christmas and New Year's to get fingerprinted, tested for HIV and TB, and to start gathering the paperwork. We scheduled our fire inspection and santiation inspection, went to the doctors, and gathered all the paperwork in no time- thanks to Anne's organizational skills!!
Our social worker completed four home visits interviewing each of us, Katie and Janet and Bob (one of our references) on February 26th. She informed us on February 26th that Katie would need a physical before she could submit our paperwork. This was not what she had stated previously. We were told that we only needed her medical records. Katie was a trooper and we got her to the doctors on March 12th, the same day we were celebrating her 9th birthday. This would be our first of many bumps in the road. Hopefully the home study will be completed soon so we can get on to the next phase of the journey.
We told Katie and Nick about their new sister on December 3rd. They were both excited with Katie stating she always wanted to be a big sister. We met with the social worker who would be completing the home study on December 18th. She gave us a huge packet of information and went through each form with us.
We took advantage of the week off between Christmas and New Year's to get fingerprinted, tested for HIV and TB, and to start gathering the paperwork. We scheduled our fire inspection and santiation inspection, went to the doctors, and gathered all the paperwork in no time- thanks to Anne's organizational skills!!
Our social worker completed four home visits interviewing each of us, Katie and Janet and Bob (one of our references) on February 26th. She informed us on February 26th that Katie would need a physical before she could submit our paperwork. This was not what she had stated previously. We were told that we only needed her medical records. Katie was a trooper and we got her to the doctors on March 12th, the same day we were celebrating her 9th birthday. This would be our first of many bumps in the road. Hopefully the home study will be completed soon so we can get on to the next phase of the journey.
Anne and Steve's story
Steve and Anne meet on Match.com in August 2002. Steve emailed Anne and they began to exchange emails and then phone calls in August. OnAugust 31, 2002 Steve and Anne met in person. We had a wonderful date. The night flew by. We talked about everything and really felt a connection. Steve called Anne the next day and set up a second date.It wasn't long before we knew that this was meant to be.
Anne met Katie and Nick in November. Steve started talking about getting married over Thanksgiving weekend 2002. We got engaged on Dec 21, 2002 and started planning our October wedding. We got married on October 18, 2003. We had a lovely wedding and reception here and then a wedding party in Connecticut a few weeks later for those who could not travel here for the wedding.
We started thinking about adding to our already wonderful family even before we got married. In August 2004 we had decided, for many reasons, that adoption was the best option for the both of us. Anne started talking to people who she knew had adopted. Adoptions Together, Inc. came highly recommended from several friends. Anne attended an information meeting in early fall and we both became very excited about the possibilities of adoption.
Anne met Katie and Nick in November. Steve started talking about getting married over Thanksgiving weekend 2002. We got engaged on Dec 21, 2002 and started planning our October wedding. We got married on October 18, 2003. We had a lovely wedding and reception here and then a wedding party in Connecticut a few weeks later for those who could not travel here for the wedding.
We started thinking about adding to our already wonderful family even before we got married. In August 2004 we had decided, for many reasons, that adoption was the best option for the both of us. Anne started talking to people who she knew had adopted. Adoptions Together, Inc. came highly recommended from several friends. Anne attended an information meeting in early fall and we both became very excited about the possibilities of adoption.
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