So one of the first steps in the adoption process is sending in a form to Homeland Security, along with a fee. There are 2 potential reasons that I can think of as to why this is necessary:
1) They are so adept at counterterrorism that they can tell if a child either is, or has the propensity to become a terrorist. Amazing what the new DNA tests can tell you.
2) This is yet another way the government is able to wedge in some sort of "tax" on unsuspecting citizens.
If I had to pick, I would guess the latter vs. the former. The form and fees we sent in are actually for fingerprint checks from the FBI for us (to make sure that we don't have any skeletons in the closet, I guess), and to start the immigration paperwork for the baby.
One thing this did for us was kind of start the clock ticking. We are getting very excited about the reality of having a new addition to our family, and it now just seems like a matter of time, plus jumping through a series of hoops, to get it done. It's also hard to believe that sometime over the course of the next couple months, our child will be born without us even knowing it. Kind of crazy, huh?
Monday, July 30, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Orientation Day
Today we had a phone meeting with the International Adoption representative from Gladney. All in all, it went very well but we learned one very important lesson - everyone in the adoption process has got to get paid! Literally everything we do will cost us something. I sneezed on the call, and I think it cost me 50 bucks.
But on a serious note, the meeting gave us a pretty good idea of what to expect during this process and about how long it will take. The most important piece of info was that the earliest we would expect to get our baby would be late 2008. It depends a lot on how long it takes us to complete certain steps in the process, which we will get in to more detail in future posts as we find out more about them.
One other piece of news we can share is that it looks like Russia is in the lead in our Baby Olympics.
- China is overwhelmed with applications and is pretty backed up
- The Vietnam program is not accepting applications because it took on the overflow of applicants once China got backed up
- Ukraine has instituted a new restriction that only allows 2 applicants per agency per month, so that is now a long wait
- Kazakhstan.....well, it's Kazakhstan. Not sure we want our kid to see the movie Borat some day and start asking too many weird questions! But no really, on a serious note, Gladney has just recently started this program and they literally have only matched up 1 child so far with a couple. That's kind of a short track record for us.
- The one thing about Russia is that the program is still needing re-accreditation from 1 more Russian agency before it can get back on track. So Gladney does have about 20-30 families in ahead of us, but hopefully the approval comes soon and the other families get matched very quickly.
More to post later as we start filling out all the forms.
But on a serious note, the meeting gave us a pretty good idea of what to expect during this process and about how long it will take. The most important piece of info was that the earliest we would expect to get our baby would be late 2008. It depends a lot on how long it takes us to complete certain steps in the process, which we will get in to more detail in future posts as we find out more about them.
One other piece of news we can share is that it looks like Russia is in the lead in our Baby Olympics.
- China is overwhelmed with applications and is pretty backed up
- The Vietnam program is not accepting applications because it took on the overflow of applicants once China got backed up
- Ukraine has instituted a new restriction that only allows 2 applicants per agency per month, so that is now a long wait
- Kazakhstan.....well, it's Kazakhstan. Not sure we want our kid to see the movie Borat some day and start asking too many weird questions! But no really, on a serious note, Gladney has just recently started this program and they literally have only matched up 1 child so far with a couple. That's kind of a short track record for us.
- The one thing about Russia is that the program is still needing re-accreditation from 1 more Russian agency before it can get back on track. So Gladney does have about 20-30 families in ahead of us, but hopefully the approval comes soon and the other families get matched very quickly.
More to post later as we start filling out all the forms.
Monday, July 23, 2007
And so it begins...
Many of you may be wondering what put us on the path of adopting. Well, the short version is that we haven't had any luck the old fashioned way and the thought of being medical test subjects in order to produce a child "naturally" didn't seem all that attractive to either of us.
The great thing about adopting is that there are countless children in numerous countries who need someone to give them a home, love, support, and a chance at a great life they may not otherwise get. We are very excited about the thought of one day bringing a child into our home and family. Introducing them to some of our friends, on the other hand, well....maybe we should wait a while on that! Just kidding....
We'll try to keep everyone updated on our page here as we move through this long process, and we thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
The great thing about adopting is that there are countless children in numerous countries who need someone to give them a home, love, support, and a chance at a great life they may not otherwise get. We are very excited about the thought of one day bringing a child into our home and family. Introducing them to some of our friends, on the other hand, well....maybe we should wait a while on that! Just kidding....
We'll try to keep everyone updated on our page here as we move through this long process, and we thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
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