Adoption Update

As all of you know from our Christmas Newsletter, Joe and I are in the middle of the adoption process. So far one of three things that needs to be completed before sending our information to the Chinese government has been finished. Joe and I have pounded the pavement looking for and notarizing all sorts of information - financial status, birth certificates, background checks, employment verification, etc (you name it, we had to get it)!

The other two things that need to be completed is our homestudy and getting US government approval. Our social worker, who is writing up our homestudy, will be stopping at our home for a final visit this coming Tuesday. The Chinese government requires four face to face meetings to complete a homestudy report, which is really just a biography of our family. We are hoping that the homestudy will be finished and sent to the adoption agency by the end of January (keep your fingers crossed).

Next, Joe and I have to get our finger prints taken on a federal level to be approved by the US government to adopt a foreign child. The approval form is called a 171H and once we receive that then our paperwork will be send to China. Of course, then it takes another few weeks for the Chinese government to log it into their system. Your log in date (LID) is really when your actual waiting period begins. Right now the typical wait from LID is 8.25 months. Since Joe is Chinese and was born in Hong Kong, we hope that the Chinese government will expedite and then our waiting period would be more like 4 to 5 months. Of course, the rumor currently going around is that they have been busy with a lot of paperwork recently (i.e. many adoptive parents), therefore the waiting period may begin to creep up. We just have to wait and see.

Leah is really excited about becoming a big sister. She loves to pretend and has recently been sitting on our couch pretending to be in an airplane on her way to China to pick up her little sister. It is really sweet and I cannot wait to be able to see them together.

I will keep you all up-to-date with our progress here on this blog.

Stephanie

P.S. If you are interested, you can check out our adoption agency by following the link below.
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