Just a quick post… Tonight after work, we shipped out the I-800A form, our formal petition to adopt a child. It was about 30 pages and a big check for Our Government, and it marks another milestone in this process. Once that form is approved, we can then complete our dossier for the Chinese government. Then we get a login date, and then hopefully soon thereafter, a match. A child.
There’s still quite a ways to go, but this is a big item to check off.
After slogging through what seems like an endless stack of forms, clearances, and documentation, we have now encountered the holy grail of adoption paperwork for China– the dossier. For the pre-application, application, and home study, we easily racked up over 75 pages of forms, if not more. That pales in comparison to the documentation required for the final packet submitted to the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA). Equal in importance to the contents of the dossier is the multiple levels of certification that prove the documents submitted are authentic and valid. Continue reading
Very good news today! I got word today from our agency that our recommendation letter from Illinois DCFS arrived.
We’ve been approved! Our homestudy is now officially recognized by the State of Illinois. Now, on to the dreaded I-800A and Biometrics interview for US Customs and Immigration…
Pardon our recent bit of radio silence, as we just returned from a whirlwind trip to Pittsburgh to see my dad married off in style. During the past few days, Brian and I have had the joy of reconnecting with much of my family we don’t see very often. Part of that included getting to share our plans to adopt a child.
Something I find really notable about sharing our own adoption story is that it seems almost everyone knows of someone whose life has been impacted by adoption. I look forward to our own journey being added to this collection of stories of love, hope, and eager anticipation, and that it might open someone else’s heart to the idea of adoption.
One thing that stood out this weekend though was my own realization of how excited I am to share my own childhood experiences and cultural traditions with our child. We are trying very hard to better understand our child’s ethnic heritage, but this weekend was a nice reminder of all the traditions, memories, and experiences we’ll be able to introduce to him or her– the wonder of a Pittsburgh wedding cookie table, the delight of polka-ing with family, hearing about family outings to Kennywood, the Strip, and countless casual references to perogies (I stopped counting at 10…).
Who knows if they’ll ever want or be able to ride the Thunderbolt some day, but if I can (almost) teach Brian to polka, I can teach anyone!
The cookie table is an essential part of any Pittsburgh wedding. This photo is from our wedding in 2005– compliments of the baking expertise of my extended family. Son or daughter, wherever you are out there, I hope you like cookies. And dancing.
As far as updates go, our paperwork is still stuck in Springfield (insert sad trombone sound here), but we’ve been given the green light to gather our final documentation for our dossier.
There’s no avoiding it. We’re going to encounter some major culture shock when we arrive in China. While we’re plowing through paperwork, we’re also trying to learn a little more about cultural practices and etiquette so we can be gracious visitors and better understand the homeland of our child.
I read this article a while back, and I don’t think I can do any better than the author’s explanation of this pervasive trend in institutionalized children. Although I am trying to steel myself for having many well-meaning “advisors” guiding me on how to dress my child, I know that it’ll still be quite the experience. From all the stories I’ve read thus far, I think it’s impossible to avoid at least one comment of “Put some clothing on that child!”
Electronics, huh? You’d think I have a one-track mind. You’d be pretty close to right.
So, we’ll be in China for almost three weeks. The point being that we’ll have a cultural experience of China that we’ll share with our child. God willing, we’ll be able to return as a family when our child is old enough to think that we’re lame parents.
We’ll be tourists as well as new parents. Both tourists and new parents need a video camera, right? I’ve been thinking about investing in a nice digital camera that also does a good job of doing video. Add a big SD card, and we’re all set.
Has anyone out there done this kind of thing? I just figure that with the level of technology in high-end digital cameras these days, what’s the point in having a video camera, and a separate still camera? All digitals take video of course. The fewer gadgets we’re hauling around, the better.
The question is whether to get a video camera, or to just upgrade to nicer digital still camera that takes great video as well. Thoughts, gadgets geeks?
The single most frequently-asked question we have gotten since announcing our adoption plans- “So when are you going to China???”
Short question. Long answer. Continue reading
It only took one trip to a baby superstore to realize that we have absolutely no idea what we actually need for our nursery. Luckily, we were able to escape the store before the sales associates started circling us like the weak prey that we are. Thanks to some great suggestions, I’ve now made my way through both The Baby Gizmo Guide and Baby Bargains, but I’m still a little unsure of what is essential vs what is “nice to have.” How do you find a price point for items that is somewhere between this razzmatazz and something that should have been recalled last month?
So I call upon you, experienced parents, for your sage wisdom. What are the absolute essentials we need to be hunting down? Do we need a glider? How about a humidifier? Baby’s first espresso maker? We know we need a crib, but do we need the super Optimus Prime edition? (“It’s a hat, or a brooch, or a pterodactyl!”– two points for the knowing that movie quote). Please keep in mind that we’re looking at a child who’s probably at least a year old– I know that already knocks down our punch list of items quite a bit.
Discuss.
Most of you know that I have a hard time relaxing; I’m always looking for a new project to keep me busy. One of the most challenging parts of our adoption process for me is dealing with the stretches of time (sometimes quite long) when we just have to sit and wait for paperwork to go through the correct channels. As I type, our adoption application is hopefully sitting somewhere in Springfield where the designated DCFS intercountry adoption coordinator has to put her seal of approval on our packet. We’ve been told that the turnaround time for this is about 2-3 weeks. Until the homestudy comes back with state approval, we just have to sit and wait.
And it seems like forever. Continue reading
After we submitted our preliminary application and received the thumbs-up that we were accepted into our agency’s Waiting Child Program, the first bit of reality hit home– the big “H-word.” While the home study process really varies depending on which agency you use, the primary goal is the same– to evaluate a prospective family to make sure they are emotionally stable, to understand motivations for adoption, and to provide education in parenting and adoption-specific topics. Continue reading