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Sunday, April 18, 2010

"More Paperwork"

I knew I would hear "more paperwork is needed" during our adoption process and a phrase I should become accustomed to hearing for now until the finalization. This week it seems to be the catch phrase. We were requested to submit additional paperwork after getting confirmation that we had all the necessary. We have friends in the process of bringing their child home from Africa and they are waiting on paperwork to be processed before they can fly home.

We have years of "more paperwork" - more paperwork for the US government, more paperwork for the Jamaican government, more paperwork for the home study, more paperwork for the judge. All we want is to bring children into our lives, give them love, stability, discipline and security. I intellectually know that each adoption is unique, but during these times of "more paperwork" I wish there was a clearer checklist of all that is needed for each step. With so few adoptions out of Jamaica, it is expected there are unknowns in the process on the Jamaican side. We did expect our home study agency to have a clear checklist which we went through and confirmed our paperwork was complete; then we were told "more paperwork" is needed. I might as well as resign myself to hearing "more paperwork" since it will be used often. Maybe our experience will help others just beginning their Adoption Adventures.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Nearing End of Initial Paperwork

Our parenting classes are completed. I get our medical forms notarized Thursday and that will be the end of our initial paperwork. Next comes questions about each other from our caseworker, a second visit to our home and fingerprinting at the immigration office. Then our homestudy will be ready to submit to USCIS for our four to six month wait for approval.

In less than nine months I will meet the one to three children that will become ours. Mom will be traveling with me. She has been a major support for our adoption dream and she will be a steady rock during the emotional time of being matched with our family.

As part of this journey, we are looking for a new home to raise our family. This week we put in offer on what we hope will become our new home. If we get to move prior to October, God will have greatly blessed us.

I keep telling myself, "God has provided the caseworker, the lawyer, the judge and the orphanage. We just need the home and the children." It is falling into place better than any plan I could develop; all will happen with God's timing.