Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Great advice for how to ask appropriate questions about adoptive families!
It's official- We are registered with Bulgaria!
We got word yesterday that we have been officially registered with the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. That means our name goes on a list of prospective families. Here is how the process works now:
Each week, the International Adoption Committee (IAC) meets to review about 10 files of children available for adoption. They work through the list of prospective families, beginning with those who have been waiting the longest. However, it isn't really "first come first served" because each family has specified age, gender, and openness to siblings and special needs. So, the first family on the list might not match the child or children. They continue down the list trying to match the child with a family that is best suited for them.
We are hoping that our openness to siblings and special needs will help to shorten our wait. However, we really have to give up control of this process to the Lord now. We trust that He has the right children picked out for us, and we will meet them at just the right time. If that is a year from now, or 3 years from now, that has to be ok with us. This adoption thing really tests the control freak aspect of my personality. Its a good thing though, because I think children will test it even more!
Next up, I will try to answer some of the common questions we have heard about our adoption story, like "Why Bulgaria?"
Each week, the International Adoption Committee (IAC) meets to review about 10 files of children available for adoption. They work through the list of prospective families, beginning with those who have been waiting the longest. However, it isn't really "first come first served" because each family has specified age, gender, and openness to siblings and special needs. So, the first family on the list might not match the child or children. They continue down the list trying to match the child with a family that is best suited for them.
We are hoping that our openness to siblings and special needs will help to shorten our wait. However, we really have to give up control of this process to the Lord now. We trust that He has the right children picked out for us, and we will meet them at just the right time. If that is a year from now, or 3 years from now, that has to be ok with us. This adoption thing really tests the control freak aspect of my personality. Its a good thing though, because I think children will test it even more!
Next up, I will try to answer some of the common questions we have heard about our adoption story, like "Why Bulgaria?"
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Paperwork is FINALLY done!
Today I'm sending off the last 3 documents for our dossier. One document is a simple one page letter from US Immigration Services. To get this letter we had to send in all sorts of papers to the U.S. government back in NOVEMBER! Then we got fingerprints done in December (our 3rd set of fingerprints because apparently the FBI, the state of Florida and Homeland Security can't share). Then for some unknown reason you have to wait another month or so to get this letter. Only we didn't get the letter, we got a pink letter asking for MORE information from our home study agency. Yep, they wanted more information about the suitability of our home for children. If you have been to our house, then you know it's perfectly adequate. No, we have not put those little plug covers in. No, we have not put locks on the kitchen cabinets. Yes, we have installed a pool fence around our already screened in pool. I have no idea what they were looking for, but they must have been satisfied because we got our letter of approval on February 24th. I did a happy dance around the living room. It is amazing how one piece of paper can bring so much joy.
Now the dossier is complete and is off to Bulgaria to join the rest of the documents already there and translated. The next step will be to get our official registration with the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. Then we wait for an unspecified amount of time to be matched.
We are so grateful for our wonderful friends who are notaries and have provided notarization on dozens of documents: Alisa, Diane, Charles and Lisa. Our physician's office West Coast Primary Care was ever so accommodating to us in helping with our paperwork. Our friends and family who keep asking how everything is going have encouraged us and made us feel so loved. Please continue to ask, and if I snarl when I say "Nothing has changed, no match yet", please forgive me and keep asking. It is going to be a lesson in patience from here on out (ok it has been a lesson in patience already but I anticipate it is only going to get worse!)
Now the dossier is complete and is off to Bulgaria to join the rest of the documents already there and translated. The next step will be to get our official registration with the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. Then we wait for an unspecified amount of time to be matched.
We are so grateful for our wonderful friends who are notaries and have provided notarization on dozens of documents: Alisa, Diane, Charles and Lisa. Our physician's office West Coast Primary Care was ever so accommodating to us in helping with our paperwork. Our friends and family who keep asking how everything is going have encouraged us and made us feel so loved. Please continue to ask, and if I snarl when I say "Nothing has changed, no match yet", please forgive me and keep asking. It is going to be a lesson in patience from here on out (ok it has been a lesson in patience already but I anticipate it is only going to get worse!)
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