LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of Paper!!!

Tomorrow some of my paperwork gets sent to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago, IL to be legalized. =) =)  This is the LAST step for the stateside portion of this international adoption process (wow- that is fun to type). 

It really seems surreal... I feel like I have been working on this paper collection project for such a long time and so much emotion goes into the paperwork and it is so close to going to GLA.

I wanted to share what actually goes into a dossier...all 70 ish pages of it!

I loved being able to check off when I had collected the document!

___      Letter to IBESR (Haitian to Social Services)

___      Power of Attorney

___      Home Study

___      Psychological Evaluation

___      Health Certificate

___      Reference Letters (2)

___      Birth Certificate

___      Letter  from current work place

___      Letter from bank

___      Criminal record check

___      Signed statement from translator

___      Approval from USCIS to adopt (Form I-171H)

___      Copy of recent bank statement

___      Copy of last year’s Federal Tax return

___      Lab tests

___      Haiti Progress Report Agreement

___      ID photos and other photos included with dossier

___      Adoptive Parent Information Form 

___      Photocopy of driver’s license

___      Photocopy of social security card

___      Photocopy of Bethany Christian Services’ license 

___      Photocopy of Social Worker’s license  

Half of the documents above need to be translated into French as well- and those documents go along with the dossier. It might not seem like a lot - but trust me- IT IS!!! 

Paperwork Pregnancy/Delivery (AKA... Dossier Prep)

 I have been waiting 7 months to type this sentence on this blog... so here goes-

"I AM DONE WITH MY DOSSIER!!!" YEA!!!!! 

God is soooo good!!!! 

Here is a good explanation of what a dossier actually is from www.adoption.com:

"Although it sounds presumptuous, a dossier (pronounced “doss-e-A”) is really just a collection of papers containing very detailed information about you. The vast majority of countries open to international adoption require prospective adoptive parents to compile a dossier. Compiling a dossier involves gathering documents, having these documents notarized, and then adding various seals from your county, your state, and the U.S. government. "

All the copies- they are real heavy!

My mom helped me- it was nice to have two sets of eyes! 

There is all 7 copies!!!

Safety first!! Precious cargo!

Me at Kinkos/Fed Ex putting on the final touches 

8 lb of paperwork bound for MI first and then HAITI !!!!!

 I will write more later about what went into my dossier but I wanted to get a post done on the day I mailed it off (it also happens to be my Dad's 72nd birthday)! I am planning on printing all the posts of this blog and make it into a pre-baby book for Baby Cakes to read when she is ready!

Yipppeeee!!!

GREAT NEWS!!! I got my police clearance letter from the UK today for the adoption, next step- physically getting my home study =) God continues to be faithful through this journey. The letter took half the time it was suppose to take =) Thank you God =)

 Next steps- one more letter to get notarized, then get my documents state sealed, then translated, then lots of copying, then send to Bethany Christian Services International, then legalized, then to HAITI!!!!   Seems like lots of steps, but hopefully they will go fast..... 

Criminal Records (that got your attention)

Here are my two most recent FB status updates.... they sum up my adoption paperwork pregnancy pains for the week........ 

Monday, Nov. 21st "Now I have resulted to just laughing.... been waiting for my adoption home study for a LONG time and now I find out I need a criminal record check from the UK from when I studied and lived in the UK. Once that is done it will be approved.... Seriously...." 

Tuesday, Nov. 22nd "Update on the adoption giggles.....I emailed the UK last night and just need to complete some paperwork, find some British pounds (money), and pray like crazy that 40 days (time they paperwork should take to come back) will really be like 10 days...." 

Absolutely LOVE this graphic !!! 

I am planning on mailing the application to the UK tomorrow along with £10.00 note (thank you soooooo much Judith).  Please pray for extreme speed.  I keep whispering to myself, "God is in control of the timing and there is a reason for this bump in the road". 

 

 

First Canadian Adoption Completed in Haiti Post-Quake!

This weekend will be a very memorable for Sylvie and Victor, a couple from Canada that will go and pick up for their daughter and bring her home to Canada from GLA.  in Haiti. I met Sylvie online, she has been a great help to me as I move through the process.  You can read about their adventure and see pictures of their absolutely beautiful daugther by going to their blog: http://sylvic.blogspot.com/ 

They are the first Canadian Adoption Completed in Haiti Post-Quake!  The encouraging part of the story, (besides the obvious- a orphan gets to be part of a forever family), is their process from referral to child coming home only took 9 months!!!! This is VERY fast!!!  Typically, this has taken up to two years... see what I mean???  

Update for me.... no new news, still waiting for my home study... If you think of it, please pray that I get it this week. 

Three N's (No New News) =(

In my classroom, Fridays warrants lots of silent cheers (aka, lots of fist pumps and no noise from 5 year olds). We like to celebrate being 5 and liking it!!! Anyway, back to the adoption.... I was thinking of a creative way to share that I have no new news to report on my adoption front, I am still waiting for my home study to be written. I do have two letters to get notarized and one letter from the bank, then my gathering is done =) No silent cheers at my house this Friday am- just to clarify- I am not over-ly super sad or bummed about having no new news...... I know God is all over this timing too because starting school has really be consuming my time so I think I would be super stressed if I needed to do all the dossier stuff and start my K classroom. God is smart!!! Thanks for reading....

Waiting Practice

I do not rock at waiting..... it is to do with my personality... I am a sanguine and sanguines usually gets really excited about something and then lose interest just as fast.  We don't like to wait =( Don't worry, I have not lost interest in my quest to bring a child home from Haiti. It's not a sprint- it's a marathon !!! 

I will have to work more on waiting-after all, waiting could be the international adoption motto!!  I heard from my social worker this week about the progress of my home study. I was anticipating and patiently waiting for my home study to be completed by the end of September or middle of October. My adoption agency is using a new format for the home study- which means it will take longer for my home study to be written.  It will most likely be not done until November.  A finished home study is a real good thing, it gets lots of other wheels in motion.

Now as I write this, I kind of chuckle, I am actually blogging about having to wait an extra 1- 2 months.... this may be nothing compared to the wait I could go through for my child to come home.  But, this is where I am at in the chapter of the long adoption story. 

Thanks again for reading.....  Shanny O

Home Study is Fini (My Part, Anyway)

Yea!!!! Another imaginary check mark off my adoption
checklist =) Today my social worker came to my house for the final meeting of my home study. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more.....

I thought baking homemade muffins would be a little out of character for me (those who know me would agree), so I opted for store bought muffins for my guest =)

Now to clarify, the home study does still need to be written and should be ready to send off to it's next destination in about a month- but my part is finished.

The next step in this journey is gathering paperwork for my dossier which goes to Haiti. Hopefully it will be in Haiti by November.

Thanks for checking in again =)

Haitian Adoption Process

I found this wonderful explanation of the Haitian Adoption Process on a adoptive mom's blog and thought it would be good information for family and friends to read- p.s. I am on step #1

1) The Homestudy. This portion should take two to three months. It requires some paperwork, a home visit with social workers, obtaining four background checks, vital statistics, etc...
2) The Dossier (the huge file that gets sent to the Haitian government). We'll be working on a lot of this while the homestudy process is in gear. All the paperwork has to go through a number of channels before completion an it should take a few months, as well. We also have some US immigration-type things to complete.
3) The Referral. Once our paperwork is in order, our orphanage will match us with a child. We review the information they give us and prayerfully make a decision.
4) The Wait. We have zero control over this part. It's all in the hands of the somewhat unorganized and s-l-o-w departments of the Haitian government.