How much paperwork is involved?

Late last week, we received a couple of e-mails from the folks at Gladney (our adoption agency). Both of the e-mails had paperwork that we had to fill out as well as information like travel tips, specifics about their Russia program, etc. In total, there were 8 attachments and nearly 200 pages of stuff to look through. A little overwhelming to say the least.

The good news is that they provided us with a "roadmap" so to speak. They told us what forms they need now and which ones they will need in the near future. Our application is up first, which is about 8 pages plus supporting documents. It's a lot like a loan application, because we had to provide information about how long we have lived at our current house, our employment history, our financial picture, and whether or not we had been arrested or convicted of a crime. I knew I was okay on that last one, but you never know about that Brandon!

Other items that they need from us include:
- a letter from my employer (confirming how long I have worked there and what my salary is)
- a letter from our CPA (stating how much Brandon makes since she is self-employed)
- a letter from our doctor (showing our physical and mental health, and what prescriptions we are currently taking)
- a letter from my insurance carrier (confirming that our child will be covered from the day they get placed with us, which is the day we accept the child, not the day they arrive back at home with us)
- pictures of our house and directions to it (info needed prior to the home inspection that the agency will be conducting)
- medical records of our pets (showing that they are up on all their vaccinations - I know, kind of interesting, eh?)
- names & addresses of our referrals and our parents

This isn't a complete list, but it gives you an idea of what kind of information we have to pull together. Too bad that people who have children on their own don't go through this kind of review before they are able to have kids. Maybe then we wouldn't see sad news stories about parents leaving their kids in a car when it's 110 degrees outside, or that they had their 5-year-old smoke marijuana. I know, I'm preaching to the choir here.

So while this seems like a lot of work, we are keeping our eye on the end goal. And when you think of it in that way, this is really nothing. We also are encouraged every day by friends and family, which is incredibly helpful.