Update

A few people have asked where we are in the process, so I figured I'd post an update.

Not much is going on, really. Our letters of recommendation are out (thanks to Tiff & Squid, Bonnie & Dave and Sandy for their help). The home study draft won't be ready until those letters are back to Baker Victory and the social worker.

Our fingerprint clearances were received by Baker Victory, so I guess I got re-fingerprinted for nothing. Well, not really for nothing. They charged me, but at least I have some on file in case it has to be done again.

We're done with our Hague classes.

Basically, it's just a waiting game right now. Wait for the recommendation letters to get to the social worker...wait for the social work to include them in the home study...review the home study for any errors...wait for Great Wall to review the home study...give our comments (hopefully few) to the social worker...wait for the revised home study...send packet 2 to Great Wall...then...more waiting.

Fingerprints...The Sequel

Well, I guess it was bound to happen. We've had a couple of small hurdles in the road to getting our home study draft.

1. Tom's birth certificate was missing the Letter of Exemplification. We took care of that this week. In fact, the NYC Dept. of Health is so organized, we now have 6 certified copies of Tom's birth certificate and 4 Letters of Exemplification. I sent one of each to Great Wall.

2. My fingerprints were rejected by the NYS Office of Children & Family Services. Why, you ask, when we haven't gotten Tom's or my mom's back (yet)? Maybe because the nice policeman who printed me spent more time looking at my chest and flirting than printing me? Could be, but at least he didn't charge us. ;o)

I had to go back this morning (after they took all the prisoners to arraignment) and get printed again. That's in the mail to Albany.

We're still shooting for February or March for the dossier to go to China. I would LOVE to see the draft of the home study, but they need all the clearances in order to give it to us.

We did hear that 2 of the 3 people that were sent the letters of reference received them. They're also needed in order to have the info blended into the home study.

The Wait

We haven't even begun the wait yet. we're still in the paperchasing stage. We were told by Great Wall that the wait is currently 21-24 months from LID.

I read somewhere that some are predicting the wait may go as long as 4 - 5 years. 4-5 years?!? I can't fathom it. I just cannot imagine waiting 4-5 years. As it is, 21-24 months seems like forever.

Birth Certificate

We got a call this week from the adoption agency. Tom's birth certificate was not the "long form" with a letter of exemplification attached.

Apparently, if you were born in the five boroughs of NYC and are adopting internationally, this is needed.

So, Tom had to reorder his certificates. No big deal, thankfully, since we're still waiting on the home study draft. they came today, so they will be sent off to Great Wall on Monday.

Where to Blog?

We have a free blog through our adoption agency, but it is very basic and doesn't allow for the add-ons I want to do (at least I haven't been able to figure it out and they don't respond to email requests, apparently).

This site allows for more personalization, but all of my posts are over there. I started adding the posts here, but it doesn't hold the dates.

What to do? What to do?

I've decided to stay with Blogger. They have a feed that will redirect everyone to this site, and I left a post sending everyone here.

It's much easier to use.

When Tom and I decided to expand our family, we felt that adoption was the way to go. Right now we're paperchasing (gathering all the required documents). It's a pretty involved process, but I'm working hard to keep it organized.

Here is a map showing the provinces of China. I wonder where our daughter will be born?