What happens now?

I promise I will come back to the story of her referral. It is truly an amazing story but one that I haven't had time to write down yet. For now, the one question we have received most in the past 11 days is "What happens now"?

Well, unfortunately the answer is more waiting. Imagine that! :-) There are so many variables in the rest of this process we can only estimate when we will be able to bring her home. Here is a quick run down of each step before we can board the big bird to China...
Letter of Intent (LOI): 3-27-09
Pre-Approval (PA): ~2-4 wks from LOI
Letter of Seeking Confirmation (LOSC): ~12-16 wks from LOI (includes wait for PA)
i800/Article 5: ~4-6 wks from LOSC
Travel Approval (TA): ~2-4 wks from Article 5
CA: ~4-7 days from TA
Travel to China: ~1-3 wks from confirmed CA

Basically this gives us a range of 20-30 weeks from the day our letter of intent was submitted to CCAA. I know....I know....huge range of time. There are so many factors this is the best I can do at this point. When I compare the time frame with the calendar it puts us LEAVING for China some time between August 12 - October 21. Late September/early October would be best for our children at home but we will work it all out when the time comes.

Now I will throw out the disclaimer that most of you have already figured out in the journey of our adoption.........ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN! We could be in China in July (not likely) or we could be in China in December (please no). Once we receive our LOSC we can narrow it all down a bit more. For now, we await PA. Once that arrives we will be "pre-approved" for OUR daughter specifically. Once we receive word it has arrived I'll be able to share photos. Until then you'll have to be content with this...
I look forward to the day I can hold this precious hand instead of admiring it from afar. OH! I almost forgot...just in case you missed it, I would like you to note in both of her referral photographs she is wearing PINK! I bet Mr. CCAA took one look at that pink bow and knew exactly what he needed to do........find us a girly-girl.

International Adoption 101: Why China?

Very simply, because that is where our daughter is. I wish I had a logical explanation for how we came to that conclusion but I don't. Adoption has been in our plan since before we married but the specifics were open for debate until about four years ago. Once I finished the book entitled The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans, I was immediately drawn to the situation. All I can tell you is we both knew China was right for us. For some strange reason, both of us felt a connection to a culture we knew very little about. You can call it whatever you want to call it but we choose to call it God. We believe it was Him placing a call on our hearts to adopt specifically from China.

The following is an excerpt from the website of America World Adoption Association. It briefly explains the complex situation in China...

China is a country whose culture dates back to the earliest records known to man. At first glance, some of China's beliefs may seem quite different than those we hold in the western world. One example of this is the cultural preference for a male child. There are several reasons why Chinese families might prefer a boy over a girl. In rural provinces, a family's livelihood depends directly on the output of its family members. Because of this, a family with sons would be at a considerable advantage than one with daughters. Historically, it is also the son's honored responsibility to take care of his parents in their old age. A daughter, however, would be expected to care for her husband's parents rather than her own. In this regard, the Chinese believe that having a son is crucial to their livelihood, as well as a form of social security for the parents when they grow older. Although in recent years, China has done much to change these belief systems, many families, especially in rural areas, still strongly favor the birth of a male child. This situation is further complicated by China's One-Child Policy, which prohibits families from having more than one child. As a result of this policy, there are thousands of abandoned children throughout China, with the vast majority of them being healthy girls.

Basically, if you are a girl in rural China you do not carry the same value as a boy. With only one child allowed, Chinese families view boys as their US version of social security. If you have a girl and anonymously abandon her then you can try again for a boy. There is much more to this situation but with that information alone, do you understand "Why China"?

International Adoption 101: Why NOT America?

The second most frequently asked question concerning our adoption is "Why China?". While there are many who genuinely want to know why we have chosen China, I think there is another question behind those words that some are afraid to ask. Why NOT America? I will address the unstated question first and "Why China" in the next post...

First of all, we believe that every child deserves a family regardless of their birth country. A child born in the United States is not superior to a child born in Kazakhstan, Zambia, Guatemala, China, Russia or any other country. It is our opinion that American children do not deserve a family more than any other child on the planet. Period.

Second, it is estimated that for every infant placed for domestic adoption in United States, there are 5 families waiting to adopt that one child. Knowing that statistic and knowing that there are children growing up unwanted in orphanages around the world, domestic didn't feel right for us. Yes, there is a foster care system in America with children of all ages available for foster care. If you do your research you will see there are so many unknowns there. At this time in our life, we are not comfortable with those unknowns. I know my limits enough to know if I loved a child and then had to give them back to a less than ideal family situation I would be heartbroken. The bottom line: we do not feel that is the road we are being led.

And finally, the reality is even if you were born into poverty in America, you were still born in the land of opportunity. You have the freedom to educate yourself, speak freely, request and (most of the time) receive help from the government, protest openly in disagreement and worship God publicly without fear. Not all countries in the world experience that kind of freedom. If you are an American woman, simply being born in the United States makes you one of the wealthiest and most privileged women in the world.

In a nutshell, those are our reasons for "Why NOT America". I know there are some who take issue with our reasons but please remember they are OUR reasons. Domestic adoption is not where we feel God is leading us. That's the bottom line. All we ask is for you to support us and not discourage us. For those of you who feel strongly about adopting within America, I would be glad to provide you with more information about domestic adoption. Just because domestic is not the right decision for us doesn't mean it isn't an option for you. Hopefully your concern is genuinely for American children without families and not an opposition to cultural diversity within a family. Only you can determine where your hesitation lies.

International Adoption 101: the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval...

Five and a half years ago I jumped into the joys of motherhood. There were no requirements to take this position. Just show up with a baby in your tummy and you're in. We made plenty of preparations for his arrival (prenatal appointments, ultrasounds, classes, pediatrician interviews, etc.) but none of them were required of us. We went to the hospital, had a baby and came home two days later. The only requirement was we couldn't leave the hospital without baby in a car seat. End of story. Same thing with baby sister. No questions asked. Here's your baby. Hang out for two days. Let's take a spin in the wheelchair. Put baby in a car seat. Off we went. Have a nice life.

Well, friends, not this time. There is a massive amount of paperwork involved in international adoption. What exactly is required of us? I've been asked several times already so I'm going to enlighten you...

-Application packet to agency
-Application packet to homestudy agency
-Intent to Adopt Letter
-Two certified copies of birth certificates for the Womble 4 (tW4)
-Two certified copies of our marriage certificate
-Certificate of Profession and Income from our CPA
-"Homemaker" letter written by Mommy
-Financial Statement recording all debts and assets
-Letter of good standing from our bank
-Copies of last 3 yrs of federal tax returns
-Health Exams on tW4
-Full physical certificates from the MD who performed the exams
-City of ____ police clearance letter
-State Bureau of Investigation (-BI) criminal check
-State police clearance/background check for any state lived in last 10 yrs
-Child/Spouse abuse registry check
-Fingerprints of both Mommy and Daddy
-6 Letters of recommendation
-Copy of city water bill
-Residential History verification
-(10) hrs each of online adoption/parenting classes
-(4) Home study visits with Social Worker verifying our ability to parent an adopted child
-Passport applications and 2 sets of Passport photos
-Photos of our home, family, living area, home life, etc.
-Interagency agreements and confidentiality statements between agency and homestudy agency
-USCIS Clearance application

Once we reach this point, all of the documents are compiled to create our dossier (just a fancy word for adoption paperwork). All of the above listed information must be notarized by a notary public. Then the notary's signature must be certified by the County Clerks Office in the county of authority. Then the County Clerks Office must be certified by the Secretary of State. Finally the Secretary of States authority must be authenticated by the Chinese Consulate. When we have received the seals of approval from the four entities listed above, we send our dossier to our agency. Upon final approval from our agency, our dossier is sent to China for translation.

At this point the Good Housekeeping lady walks out on stage and stamps Mommy and Daddy with her big fat seal of approval. We brought two sweet babies home no questions asked. We could have been an ax murderers or crazies for all they knew. We're not...but we could have been. This one is going to take a little more effort but we're ready for the challenge. I'm checking them off as fast as I can. If anyone needs me, I'll be knee deep in paperwork until at least August. Well, hopefully July, but that might be wishful thinking. :-)