Adoption Update

I know we haven't posted much lately.  We've been waiting on our Homestudy to be completed.  Our Social Worker told us this morning that it was done and she was sending it to our placing agency to be reviewed.  They will likely ask for a few changes to be made.  Our social worker will complete those quickly (hopefully) and then it will be done.  This is a HUGE milestone in the paperwork process.

Once the Homestudy is officially done, we can apply to US Immigration (USCIS) to adopt a child.  USCIS will then send us a letter with our appointment time to be fingerprinted.  Once we are fingerprinted, we will wait to be approved.  This approval is taking up to 90 days right now.  During that wait, we will complete our documents for our Dossier.  Immigration Approval goes in our Dossier, so once we get it, we want our Dossier ready to send to China.

Once our Dossier gets to China, we can be matched with a child.  Our agency is telling us that can be anywhere from a day to a couple of months.  We have decided to request a girl, so that will likely increase our wait time a little.  But we are open to quite a few special needs, so hopefully it will be quick.  Once we are matched, it will probably be around 6 months until we travel to China to pick her up.  We're still hoping to be home with her by the end of 2011!!!!!

Our Homestudy getting done also means that we can apply for several adoption grants.  The fundraising really kicks into high gear very soon!  We are still planning to do the fundraising quilt, so keep an eye out for more details.  We're also hoping to apply for a matching grant very soon.  We most definitely appreciate any help our friends and family can provide to bring our little girl home!