Saturday, January 16, 2010

welcome to our adoption blog!

This is the best place to find information about our adoption process and ongoing updates as we get closer to meeting our next child. Now you don't have to sift through all my other random ramblings at Carrying Ballast to follow our adoption progress. :)

I have copied all my previous adoption posts from my other blog onto this site so you can catch up on where we've been. Here is a brief update on where we currently stand:

Steps Completed:
Agency application & approval
Fingerprinting & background checks
Homestudy documentation (autobiographies, letters of reference, medical checks, etc)
Homestudy social worker visits
Dossier documentation (birth & marriage certificates, IRS info, letter from bank, passports, photos, etc)

Next Steps:
Social worker completes final homestudy document -->
Send documents to Homeland Security for further background checking -->
Send documents to Dept of State for authentication -->
Ready to accept a referral (in adoption-speak this means be matched up with a child!) -->
Accept referral -->
Wait 4-6 months for court date in Ethiopia -->
Our agency lawyer goes to court for us in Ethiopia -->
Pass court (child is legally ours!) -->
Wait 6 weeks for Embassy appointment -->
Travel to Ethiopia to finalize adoption with US Embassy and bring our child home!!

Prayer Requests:
-For all the paperwork to be processed smoothly
-For wisdom in the referral process. The way our agency works, we essentially choose our child from a pool of waiting children... not an easy task! Pray that God will make it clear to us who He has chosen for us.
-For our waiting child, whoever he or she may be -- for safety, provision, preparation, and loving care.
-For our children at home, Nate (4) & Dexter (2) - that we can prepare them well for this exciting time in our family's life.

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