(This is our pregnancy ultrasound) * I swiped the image from another blog :)Our Adoption Journey
So initially, to begin the official adoption process, we contacted China Adoption With Love, Inc. back in the winter of 2007. Prior to that, I had attended several workshops at an annual adoption conference and did a lot of online research. We attended an informational meeting at our agency and were able to meet Meg, the agency social worker and Lillian, the agency founder and director. Lillian and Meg presented information and answered questions about what the adoption process entails. Among us, there were about five other couples in attendance. This small, Brookline office proudly depicts the hundreds of happy parents, siblings and children brought together by adoption through the multiple photos that line the walls and halls of their agency. Lillian, a native of China spoke with such eloquence and warmth about their mission at the agency. We truly could have listened to her speak for hours. The information she offers is priceless, but the manner in which she delivers it is so evidently backed with a sincere love and dedication to her work; one can't help leaving her office feeling inspired and connected. I encourage you to get a sense of "who Lillian is" by reading her posts on the agency website. Her thoughts and observations in her mission statement and words about the Chinese culture are worth the read.
Anyway, on April 15, 2008, we submitted our first official request to begin the adoption process. Within the week, we were sent a massive intake packet and were contacted by Mary, an independent social worker that would conduct our homestudy. Our intake packet was over 40 pages in total. Its contents included such things as: recommended reading and websites, the pros and cons of the adoption process, an adoptive child's Bill of Rights, checklists for all the domestic and international documents that we would need to gather, physical exam forms, samples of the Letter of Intent we would need to compose for China, ideas on what to include on our 5 pg(each) autobiographies, etc.. All this needed to be done for the completion of our dossier - the portfolio that our agency prepares on our behalf, complete with the 7 page report prepared by Mary, that gives an account of our lives, her impressions of our home, the family environment and her recommendation that we are prepared to adopt and provide for a child.
I will admit that despite our excitement to finally be able to put our dreams into motion, the paper chase did prove to be daunting at times. In September we were fingerprinted, our record was checked by the FBI, and we were granted the approval of the United States to apply for international adoption. Whew! Once everything was compiled and processed, the agency translated all of our documents and submitted our dossier to the CCAA (the China Center of Adoption Affairs). Our dossier was sent to China along with those of a few other families within our agency. These families will be our "travel mates" and will be receiving their referrals at the same time as us, in the event that we are referred a non special needs child.
We recently completed an update of our homestudy because we are soon approaching its one year expiration. Within this update, we expanded our adoption intentions to include children within China's special needs program. Over the past few months we have grown to learn more about what conditions are encompassed within the "special needs" program. Unfortunately, as parents, we are all guilty of wanting our perfect little baby. This definition then leads to children with minor and/or correctable medical needs to be labeled as special needs. As a special educator, I should know that this is a very broad term, but until recently hadn't known just how minor some of these "conditions" were. We completed a checklist, identifying which conditions we would be open to consider. Our agency will present us with the files of children that fall within this list of cosmetic and/or minor medical needs. We will determine if we feel that this child is a match for us, if so, we will write a letter of intent to China. We have the right to have our pediatrician review the child's file and even request additional medical tests if desired. If we adopt a child from the SN program, we will not be travelling with our DTC travel group. CAWLI (our agency), will arrange for us to travel to China with other families that will be going together in the coming months.
We cannot predict what our timeline will look like. The NSN program (non special needs) has a very long waiting list that will undoubtedly become longer each month; at present, families have been waiting over 40 mths. in the system before they receive a referral because of the backlog of applicants. The SN program may place us with a child in as little as two months or as many as twenty-four. The unpredictability of it all is a bit unsettling, but is exciting all the same. If we receive a referral for a NSN child, we will have 6-8 weeks before our travel date. If we receive a SN referral, we may need to wait 4 mths. until we travel because the arrangement process with China is different. CAWLI makes all the domestic and international travel arrangements, provides us with knowledgeable travel guides, sends a pediatrician along, books all flights/hotel stays, sightseeing tours, etc.
In the meantime, we will update our USCIS approval and remain a "waiting family." Because we really don't know when everything will happen ,we have signed up for the September PTAG (parent travel advisory group) hosted by families that have already experienced the travel process to China. These knowledgeable folks will give us a parents' perspective on what to anticipate in China, what to bring/not bring, and give advice on all the little details involved. We will do a more official travel group meeting with CAWLI prior to our trip. Wow, I've gone on long enough for one day. I'll give your brains a rest for now and post more on our "goings on" later. - Beth
So initially, to begin the official adoption process, we contacted China Adoption With Love, Inc. back in the winter of 2007. Prior to that, I had attended several workshops at an annual adoption conference and did a lot of online research. We attended an informational meeting at our agency and were able to meet Meg, the agency social worker and Lillian, the agency founder and director. Lillian and Meg presented information and answered questions about what the adoption process entails. Among us, there were about five other couples in attendance. This small, Brookline office proudly depicts the hundreds of happy parents, siblings and children brought together by adoption through the multiple photos that line the walls and halls of their agency. Lillian, a native of China spoke with such eloquence and warmth about their mission at the agency. We truly could have listened to her speak for hours. The information she offers is priceless, but the manner in which she delivers it is so evidently backed with a sincere love and dedication to her work; one can't help leaving her office feeling inspired and connected. I encourage you to get a sense of "who Lillian is" by reading her posts on the agency website. Her thoughts and observations in her mission statement and words about the Chinese culture are worth the read.
Anyway, on April 15, 2008, we submitted our first official request to begin the adoption process. Within the week, we were sent a massive intake packet and were contacted by Mary, an independent social worker that would conduct our homestudy. Our intake packet was over 40 pages in total. Its contents included such things as: recommended reading and websites, the pros and cons of the adoption process, an adoptive child's Bill of Rights, checklists for all the domestic and international documents that we would need to gather, physical exam forms, samples of the Letter of Intent we would need to compose for China, ideas on what to include on our 5 pg(each) autobiographies, etc.. All this needed to be done for the completion of our dossier - the portfolio that our agency prepares on our behalf, complete with the 7 page report prepared by Mary, that gives an account of our lives, her impressions of our home, the family environment and her recommendation that we are prepared to adopt and provide for a child.
I will admit that despite our excitement to finally be able to put our dreams into motion, the paper chase did prove to be daunting at times. In September we were fingerprinted, our record was checked by the FBI, and we were granted the approval of the United States to apply for international adoption. Whew! Once everything was compiled and processed, the agency translated all of our documents and submitted our dossier to the CCAA (the China Center of Adoption Affairs). Our dossier was sent to China along with those of a few other families within our agency. These families will be our "travel mates" and will be receiving their referrals at the same time as us, in the event that we are referred a non special needs child.
We recently completed an update of our homestudy because we are soon approaching its one year expiration. Within this update, we expanded our adoption intentions to include children within China's special needs program. Over the past few months we have grown to learn more about what conditions are encompassed within the "special needs" program. Unfortunately, as parents, we are all guilty of wanting our perfect little baby. This definition then leads to children with minor and/or correctable medical needs to be labeled as special needs. As a special educator, I should know that this is a very broad term, but until recently hadn't known just how minor some of these "conditions" were. We completed a checklist, identifying which conditions we would be open to consider. Our agency will present us with the files of children that fall within this list of cosmetic and/or minor medical needs. We will determine if we feel that this child is a match for us, if so, we will write a letter of intent to China. We have the right to have our pediatrician review the child's file and even request additional medical tests if desired. If we adopt a child from the SN program, we will not be travelling with our DTC travel group. CAWLI (our agency), will arrange for us to travel to China with other families that will be going together in the coming months.
We cannot predict what our timeline will look like. The NSN program (non special needs) has a very long waiting list that will undoubtedly become longer each month; at present, families have been waiting over 40 mths. in the system before they receive a referral because of the backlog of applicants. The SN program may place us with a child in as little as two months or as many as twenty-four. The unpredictability of it all is a bit unsettling, but is exciting all the same. If we receive a referral for a NSN child, we will have 6-8 weeks before our travel date. If we receive a SN referral, we may need to wait 4 mths. until we travel because the arrangement process with China is different. CAWLI makes all the domestic and international travel arrangements, provides us with knowledgeable travel guides, sends a pediatrician along, books all flights/hotel stays, sightseeing tours, etc.
In the meantime, we will update our USCIS approval and remain a "waiting family." Because we really don't know when everything will happen ,we have signed up for the September PTAG (parent travel advisory group) hosted by families that have already experienced the travel process to China. These knowledgeable folks will give us a parents' perspective on what to anticipate in China, what to bring/not bring, and give advice on all the little details involved. We will do a more official travel group meeting with CAWLI prior to our trip. Wow, I've gone on long enough for one day. I'll give your brains a rest for now and post more on our "goings on" later. - Beth
