My prayers from yesterday were answered quickly. This morning I received an e-mail that my passport has been mailed and I should receive it by Tuesday. Now we are just waiting on Evan's. The funny thing is that his was just a renewal, so it was supposed to be processed quicker than mine. There must be something shady about him. :)
Beth asked a good question in the Comments Section in regards to which part of Russia we will adopt our son. Russia is a very large country. I think there are 11 times zones within it. Our agency works in about 8-10 regions (which would be like states in the U.S). Some of the regions are in Siberia and others are closer to Moscow. When our dossier is submitted they will look at the wait time in each region and probably give us one or two choices. Vladivostok is an 8 hour flight from Moscow, so this region may not be as appealing to us as Tver, which is a 2-3 hour drive from Moscow. Two of the regions, Pskov and Smolensk, we can travel by train. I know Evan would love one of the those regions if we are given the choice.
When we travel to Russia we will have translators and drivers holding our hands every step of the way. We are responsible for getting to and from Moscow. However, all travel within the country is handled by our agency's Moscow office. Time to save up our airline miles!
To answer Beth's other question, Evan has been nice enough not to suggest any baby names with references to Ohio State. However, I want everyone to know that our child will be entering the United States wearing an Ohio State outfit! I am sure very few people are surprised.
Kristin
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Book 'Em!
This afternoon Evan and I went to jail! Technically we were at the Medina County Jail, but they didn’t keep us. We were there to get our fingerprints taken, which is required by the State of Ohio for our Home Study. It is really nice and easy these days. All you do is put your fingers on a touch pad and it shows up on the computer. Now our fingerprints are off to both the State of Ohio and the FBI. That puts us another step closer to being finished with our Home Study.
This afternoon I realized that I really had not discussed the adoption process. So, I thought I would give a general timeline of events. I figure our Home Study should be completed by the end of October. Pretty soon we will start collecting our documents for our dossier. This will take until December or January to complete. The hold-up is the government. We already sent in our I-600A Form, which is an "Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition". We will need to submit our Home Study as well once it is complete. They will also make us get fingerprinted once again in the next month or so. Then they will send us the Form I-171H, “Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition”. This is what we will need in order to be partially approved to immigrate our son to the United States (the remainder of the approval happens while we are in-country). The Form I-171H is what takes the longest.
Once the dossier is complete and we received our Form I-171H, our dossier is reviewed and sent to Russia. This is where we wait and wait and possibly, wait some more. The waiting may even take up to a year (we hope less). Then we are given a referral. Unfortunately, most of Russia’s referrals are a “blind referral”. This means that we will probably not get a picture or any information on our son. We have requested an infant boy that is 18 months or younger. That is the youngest age range that you can request. Most likely he will be 12-18 months when referred. However, a few people are referred a 9-11 month old.
Once we find out that they have a referral for us. We will be invited to come to Russia to meet our referral. We will probably only get a couple weeks notice. The first trip is about a week long. We will get to meet our son and visit him at the orphanage. We will also be given any medical information and limited, if any, family history.
Then we have to go back home – without him. This will be very hard for us. Russia is a two-trip country. Approximately 2-4 months later, we will have our court date. Yes, we will have to stand in front of a Russian Judge. This sounds just a little intimidating. We will also be able to change our son’s name here and he will be given a new birth certificate. There is usually a 10-day waiting period before we can have custody. Some judges waive this waiting period, some do not. If you would like to start praying now, we would like it waived. This trip is a long trip anyway. We will be there about 10 days. If the 10-days are not waived, we will be there for three weeks!!!!
Finally, after doing some paperwork in Moscow the last few days of the trip, we fly back home. Once our plane hits the United States, our son is a citizen.
I know that was a lot of information to take in. I’ll go into more detail as time goes on. But, I hope this gives you a little more insight.
Kristin
This afternoon I realized that I really had not discussed the adoption process. So, I thought I would give a general timeline of events. I figure our Home Study should be completed by the end of October. Pretty soon we will start collecting our documents for our dossier. This will take until December or January to complete. The hold-up is the government. We already sent in our I-600A Form, which is an "Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition". We will need to submit our Home Study as well once it is complete. They will also make us get fingerprinted once again in the next month or so. Then they will send us the Form I-171H, “Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition”. This is what we will need in order to be partially approved to immigrate our son to the United States (the remainder of the approval happens while we are in-country). The Form I-171H is what takes the longest.
Once the dossier is complete and we received our Form I-171H, our dossier is reviewed and sent to Russia. This is where we wait and wait and possibly, wait some more. The waiting may even take up to a year (we hope less). Then we are given a referral. Unfortunately, most of Russia’s referrals are a “blind referral”. This means that we will probably not get a picture or any information on our son. We have requested an infant boy that is 18 months or younger. That is the youngest age range that you can request. Most likely he will be 12-18 months when referred. However, a few people are referred a 9-11 month old.
Once we find out that they have a referral for us. We will be invited to come to Russia to meet our referral. We will probably only get a couple weeks notice. The first trip is about a week long. We will get to meet our son and visit him at the orphanage. We will also be given any medical information and limited, if any, family history.
Then we have to go back home – without him. This will be very hard for us. Russia is a two-trip country. Approximately 2-4 months later, we will have our court date. Yes, we will have to stand in front of a Russian Judge. This sounds just a little intimidating. We will also be able to change our son’s name here and he will be given a new birth certificate. There is usually a 10-day waiting period before we can have custody. Some judges waive this waiting period, some do not. If you would like to start praying now, we would like it waived. This trip is a long trip anyway. We will be there about 10 days. If the 10-days are not waived, we will be there for three weeks!!!!
Finally, after doing some paperwork in Moscow the last few days of the trip, we fly back home. Once our plane hits the United States, our son is a citizen.
I know that was a lot of information to take in. I’ll go into more detail as time goes on. But, I hope this gives you a little more insight.
Kristin
Monday, September 17, 2007
First Meeting with our Social Worker
One Social worker visit down and two more to go. Saturday night we went to our Social Worker, Julia's house for an informal visit. There was one other woman there who is adopting from Kazakhstan. Basically, Julia collected some of our paperwork and went into more detail about the Home Study process. It seems pretty harmless. She is not going to come into our house with a white glove or anything. She is going to help educate us on having an adopted child.
When we bring our son home we will have to treat him differently than we would a biological child at his age (12-18 months). Orphans are not use to having their needs met promptly and sometimes not met at all. Julia adopted two children herself. She gave an example of how her son had a very bad earache that most children would be screaming over. This child said nothing. He was use to handling things on his own. So, we are going to learn about bonding and attachment. We actually want our son to be less independent and more dependent on us in the beginning, so we can gain his trust.
So, basically, we only have a few more documents to go for our Home Study: a safety audit (conducted by the social worker), fire inspection, medical forms, and financial forms. I hope to have all of these completed by the end of the month.
We are still waiting on our passports to arrive. We did not pay for expediting because so many people told us that it was not necessary. It has been three weeks, so we hope to see them soon. The passports are important to have now because we have to put our passport number on most of our dossier documents. So, please pray they come quickly.
I want to close by inviting questions from anyone that has them. That will give me more topics to post about, since paperwork isn't always the most exciting topic. That way this blog will become more interactive. Either e-mail me (if you have the address) or post questions in the comments section.
Kristin
When we bring our son home we will have to treat him differently than we would a biological child at his age (12-18 months). Orphans are not use to having their needs met promptly and sometimes not met at all. Julia adopted two children herself. She gave an example of how her son had a very bad earache that most children would be screaming over. This child said nothing. He was use to handling things on his own. So, we are going to learn about bonding and attachment. We actually want our son to be less independent and more dependent on us in the beginning, so we can gain his trust.
So, basically, we only have a few more documents to go for our Home Study: a safety audit (conducted by the social worker), fire inspection, medical forms, and financial forms. I hope to have all of these completed by the end of the month.
We are still waiting on our passports to arrive. We did not pay for expediting because so many people told us that it was not necessary. It has been three weeks, so we hope to see them soon. The passports are important to have now because we have to put our passport number on most of our dossier documents. So, please pray they come quickly.
I want to close by inviting questions from anyone that has them. That will give me more topics to post about, since paperwork isn't always the most exciting topic. That way this blog will become more interactive. Either e-mail me (if you have the address) or post questions in the comments section.
Kristin
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Lots and Lots of Paperwork!
I just wanted to start out by thanking everyone for their support. Your e-mails and comments have meant so much to us. We are thankful for all of you.
Onto the topic at hand . . . we are at the paperwork stage of our journey. For those of you who know me well, I am a self-proclaimed NERD! I like researching. I like lists. And, I like paperwork! So, this adoption process is right up my alley. We have to gather documents for our Home Study. Then we have to gather more documents for our dossier. The dossier is what will be sent to Russia.
Just so you can get an idea of some of the documents, here are some examples:
1. Birth Certificates
2. Marriage License
3. Fire Inspection
4. Reference Letters (Thank you so much to those who are writing them! We really appreciate it!!!)
5. Various Fingerprints (State and FBI)
6. Documentation from our vet saying that our cats have all their vaccinations
7. Letters from our employers
8. Medical forms (the ones for the dossier need to be notarized!)
9. Proof of automobile insurance
10. Child Abuse and Neglect Registry Results
Most of these documents are just for our Home Study. We haven't even really began collecting our dossier documents. My goal is to collect them as quick as possible. This is the only part of the journey where we have the control. We basically hurry up and then wait. So, the quicker we complete our Home Study and dossier, the earlier we will receive our referral.
I'll try to explain some of the adoption lingo we are learning in upcoming blogs. We also have our first Home Study visit with our social worker on Saturday. She is having a session at her house with a couple of families in our area who are adopting. We will be able to bring her some of our paperwork and ask her any questions. Hopefully, I will understand the process even better myself after Saturday.
Thanks again for your support!
Kristin
Onto the topic at hand . . . we are at the paperwork stage of our journey. For those of you who know me well, I am a self-proclaimed NERD! I like researching. I like lists. And, I like paperwork! So, this adoption process is right up my alley. We have to gather documents for our Home Study. Then we have to gather more documents for our dossier. The dossier is what will be sent to Russia.
Just so you can get an idea of some of the documents, here are some examples:
1. Birth Certificates
2. Marriage License
3. Fire Inspection
4. Reference Letters (Thank you so much to those who are writing them! We really appreciate it!!!)
5. Various Fingerprints (State and FBI)
6. Documentation from our vet saying that our cats have all their vaccinations
7. Letters from our employers
8. Medical forms (the ones for the dossier need to be notarized!)
9. Proof of automobile insurance
10. Child Abuse and Neglect Registry Results
Most of these documents are just for our Home Study. We haven't even really began collecting our dossier documents. My goal is to collect them as quick as possible. This is the only part of the journey where we have the control. We basically hurry up and then wait. So, the quicker we complete our Home Study and dossier, the earlier we will receive our referral.
I'll try to explain some of the adoption lingo we are learning in upcoming blogs. We also have our first Home Study visit with our social worker on Saturday. She is having a session at her house with a couple of families in our area who are adopting. We will be able to bring her some of our paperwork and ask her any questions. Hopefully, I will understand the process even better myself after Saturday.
Thanks again for your support!
Kristin
Monday, September 3, 2007
The Official Announcement
For those of you who have not heard, we have an announcement! We are adopting a baby! We are really excited and would really love your prayers during this process.
Now for some details . . .
Why are we adopting?
We have been trying to start a family for four years. We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility, but there really isn't anything medically wrong with us. So, we realized that God has closed my womb for now. We don't know if it is forever or for just a season.
About a year ago, I (Kristin) stumbled upon the blog of someone who went to my college. They were a young couple that were adopting a baby girl from Guatemala. As I read their blog, my heart began to soften toward adoption. Finally, just a few months ago, Evan and I began to discuss adoption ourselves and realized that God had prepared both of us for this option.
Our final reason for adopting is that this is a great way for us to show God's love. God adopted us into His family. Why shouldn't we adopt a child into ours?
Domestic or International?
We will be adopting an infant boy from Russia. We looked into domestic, but did not feel at peace with it. We felt God leading us to Russia. We will be using Children's Hope International as our agency. They are a Christian organization with a local branch in our area.
How long will it take?
We are not 100% sure. We hope only a year. However, it could take almost a year and a half. Adopting a boy from Russia is quicker than adopting a girl because there is a higher demand for girls.
Some closing comments . . .
We know that some people may be turned off by the fact that we are adopting outside of the United States. However, we know that God calls us each in different ways. Evan and I feel that this is where God wants us. This will be a difficult, but rewarding process. Along the way, I (Kristin) will share more about what this process entails. For now, Evan and I just ask for your prayers. We have been waiting a long time to become parents. We feel incredibly blessed that God has chosen us to take care of our future son. I hope that through this blog you may see an example of God's love as I did when I began reading the Guatemalan adoption blog a year ago.
Now for some details . . .
Why are we adopting?
We have been trying to start a family for four years. We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility, but there really isn't anything medically wrong with us. So, we realized that God has closed my womb for now. We don't know if it is forever or for just a season.
About a year ago, I (Kristin) stumbled upon the blog of someone who went to my college. They were a young couple that were adopting a baby girl from Guatemala. As I read their blog, my heart began to soften toward adoption. Finally, just a few months ago, Evan and I began to discuss adoption ourselves and realized that God had prepared both of us for this option.
Our final reason for adopting is that this is a great way for us to show God's love. God adopted us into His family. Why shouldn't we adopt a child into ours?
Domestic or International?
We will be adopting an infant boy from Russia. We looked into domestic, but did not feel at peace with it. We felt God leading us to Russia. We will be using Children's Hope International as our agency. They are a Christian organization with a local branch in our area.
How long will it take?
We are not 100% sure. We hope only a year. However, it could take almost a year and a half. Adopting a boy from Russia is quicker than adopting a girl because there is a higher demand for girls.
Some closing comments . . .
We know that some people may be turned off by the fact that we are adopting outside of the United States. However, we know that God calls us each in different ways. Evan and I feel that this is where God wants us. This will be a difficult, but rewarding process. Along the way, I (Kristin) will share more about what this process entails. For now, Evan and I just ask for your prayers. We have been waiting a long time to become parents. We feel incredibly blessed that God has chosen us to take care of our future son. I hope that through this blog you may see an example of God's love as I did when I began reading the Guatemalan adoption blog a year ago.
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