The Process Part 1

"Despite the reams of paperwork, obstacles worthy of a horse show, and a wait that can rival an elephant's gestation, adoption feels no different on the inside."- Scott Simon,

 Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption

What steps have we gone through, so far, to bring Lia Grace home? Well, it started with our application and references. Two references were from close family friends, one from a friend, one from my parents, and two from my previous employers, since I am in direct contact with children on a daily basis. Thank you to all our references! You are also part of Lia's story. The only way that I know how to truly capture the process is through the photos we have taken up to this point. Here it goes!

The very, very beginning. The application was mailed off!

We were approved! I received the call during field day but later got this email:

Next, we met with our case manager, reviewed the whole adoption process, reviewed the dossier guide, discussed the trip to pick up Lia Grace, and submitted our first set of docs in order to begin the home study. All smiles, and I will admit, more tears of joy! A GREAT way to begin summer!! :)

 

Then, we began compiling the documents needed for our dossier.     

*Once all of these documents are notarized, county clerk certified, state sealed, and authenticated by the Ch!nese consulate in Houston (or in Chicago for one of my documents since I was born in MI), they can be mailed to Ch*na, along with family, couple, and passport photos. This is the most time consuming of the whole process. Once all of these super important documents have been through the "authentication process", our agency will critically review them before mailing them to Chin@. That is referred to as "Dossier to Ch*na" or in the adoption community, DTC. More to come on that later :) *

The "Paper Chase" Began. The very first document the kids and I chased was our marriage certificate. We drove to the courthouse and the judge, thank God she was there that day!, was gracious enough to sign it right away for me. The kids and I were thrilled that it went so smoothly and there was virtually NO wait!

 

The rest of the documents are kind of a blur because they were chased simultaneously. Here are a few of the photos from the various places we went:

Once we had all the dossier documents that were in OUR control, we began the sealing process. We are very thankful for our neighbor who is a notary and who is more than willing to help us notarize our documents. Thank you Becky! Words cannot express our gratitude to you!

Once they were notarized, they had to be county clerk certified. So, off to the courthouse they went...

Done! :)  Michael's employment verification statement was notarized by a notary from Coweta County (Newnan, GA) so we had to travel to that courthouse for that county certification.

The next stop in the sealing process was the Secretary of State's office.

Now that all the documents were notarized, county certified, and state sealed, they had to be authenticated by the consulate. Off to Chicago went my BC and the rest, once we get them, will go to Houston. Here are the documents that are ready to go to Ch!na as of today:

So you see. It is a process. A long, slow one. Keep praying friends~ we covet them and our sweet daughter needs them too.





 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.







All The Why's?

"Your wisest moments will be those when you say yes to God."~ Rick Warren

Why Adopt? Why Ch*na? Why CCAI? Why a Girl? Why NOW???



We have been asked these questions by our friends and families long before we mailed off our application to our agency and they were discussed again during the home study process. They were asked with sincerity and in a spirit of truly" looking out" for our family, which we welcomed and appreciated. :)  So, if you were one of those who "questioned us", thank you!

Why Adopt?

For me, it has always been a desire. Growing up in San Diego, I made frequent trips to Tijuana, Mexico. The children begging in the street and living in deplorable conditions tugged at my young heart. I recall as a teen saying that I would love to bring home a cute little boy from Ethiopia someday. Although I was being a bit rebellious at the time, the seed was planted early on in my heart. I was aware of the need around the world and hoped that I could make a difference later.  Fast forward to our married years. After our daughter was born, we decided that if we were to add any more children to our family, they would be added through adoption.

Why China?

I will never forget watching an Oprah show about the orphans living in Chin@. It was in that moment that I knew that I had to help. Somehow. Someday. I never forgot the images that I saw and all the emotions that were stirred up in me. Too many children left and not enough people to love them and give them homes. Heart wrenching!

I always told Michael that our daughter was in Ch!na waiting. Call it mommy intuition but I knew she was in Ch*na. Even when we were researching other options to add to our family, I always came back to Chin@. One night Michael asked me point blank, " If we were to add a child through another program would that missing piece, whoever he/she was, complete our family?"  My answer without hesitation was,  "probably not."  I told him we would still have to travel to Ch*na to get our daughter. His response?
"I guess we are headed to Chin@ then."

Ch!na has a stable adoption program and only requires one trip for 14-17 days. Other countries require multiple trips and longer stays while in country. 

Why CCAI?

Reputation. CCAI's reputation, and the fact that they have an office here in ATL, were the primary reasons why we chose them. There are many adoption agencies to choose from and we researched many of them before making a decision. We also know several families that have had successful adoptions through CCAI.  

Why a Girl?

I always felt like I had a daughter waiting for us. Sadly, girls are abandoned more frequently than boys due to Ch*na's One Child Policy. The reasons for this are very complicated.

Besides, our daughter really, really wanted a "mei mei"! ;)

Why NOW???

Yes, this is the million dollar question. Our biological children are "tweens", we already have a healthy boy and girl, our home is happy, and we are approaching "middle age".  Why in the world would we want to start over and disrupt our home? But, the time is NOW. After years of discussing it, researching domestic vs. international adoption, considering local DFACS "foster to adopt" programs, and even reviewing one child's file in Chin@, we are confident that this is the path that we are to travel.  We believe that this is something we have been called to do and not trusting in our faith would be an act of disobedience.  Our hearts are broken for the millions of children who live in institutions and foster homes. We want to be able to do something to help a child and we want our children to see faith in action. So, the question becomes why not?

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The red thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break."

 An Ancient Ch!nese Belief

*My disclaimer- I am not a tech savvy person. I am new to blogging and am still on a learning curve. I have been told that comments aren't showing up and unfortunately, I  don't know why. If anyone knows why and can offer suggestions, please let me know. Thanks! :)

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog of Lia Grace's journey home!

We are so excited about our daughter and can't wait to meet her.

This blog was created to serve as a journal of Lia's adoption so she will have a record in years to come of the steps it took to bring her home and also as a way for our friends and family to stay updated on the process.

As of today, we are waiting for our social worker to finish our home study report so that our agency can submit our I-800A to the USCIS. The I-800A is the application for us to adopt a foreign born child and we must get our government's approval before Lia Grace can come home. Once we get approval, we will have to wait for an appointment to be fingerprinted. The home study must be attached to the I-800A so that is why we are waiting for the final home study report. All other home study and dossier documents that are in OUR control have been accounted for and, for almost all of them, have already been state sealed. *insert happy dance*

So, what do we do while we wait? We pray. We pray for a speedy referral. Specifically we pray for our daughter's health, protection and safety, her orphanage, the nannies that are caring for her, or if she is lucky enough, the foster family that is caring for her. We pray that she feels loved and that she knows what it feels like to be attached to someone. We pray for her friends that will never know that love of a family because sadly they have been labeled "unadoptable". We pray for the other children that are waiting for their forever families.  We pray for a smooth transition for our sweet girl.

Would you join us in praying?

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

John 14:18