Steps to Adoption

Ok. So here are the steps that I have completed so far in the adoption process. I hope it isn't too boring.

1) Decide on a country from which to adopt. I did a lot of research on the internet into all of the different international adoption programs that are available. I then narrowed my options down somewhat based on those that allow adoptions by single women. The different options that I looked into were Bulgaria, Colombia, China, Guatemala, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia and the Ukraine. After a lot of research I finally decided on Guatemala for a couple of reasons. First, I had spent a year in Guatemala when I was 21-22 and fell in love with the country. I have been able to travel back twice with friends and family so I definitely have a bond with the country. Secondly, Guatemala is very open to allowing single's to adopt. Also, there is only one trip required to pickup the child and it is only 3-5 days of travelling. With many of the programs, two trips were required and the length of stay varied from 10-21 days.

2) Find an adoption agency to handle the details of the adoption. Initially I thought it might be possible to work without an agency and just file all of the paperwork on my own and work with an orphanage in Guatemala. However, after doing more research into all the details, I became somewhat overwhelmed. I looked into quite a few agencies that handled Guatemalan adoptions. I got very lucky to find the agency that I am currently working with. A lady at the gym where I work out was talking about her adoption. We got to talking and I asked which agency she was working with (she is also adopting from Guatemala). It is a local agency in the Kansas City area that I hadn't run across in my search. I looked into the agency and was able to get more information from them. I eventually went to an informational meeting with one of my friends and was very impressed with them. So far they have been wonderful to work with. I receive very personal attention and quick followup on everything.

3) I completed an application and was accepted into the agency's Guatemala program. I then attended an orientation meeting with my adoption coordinator to go over the complete process from start to finish. I came away feeling somewhat overwhelmed but assured that she would be there to support me throughout the process. I think I am very lucky. My caseworker has interned with the agency for the past year and has now graduated with her Master's degree so she is a full time employee. She is very detailed oriented and quick to respond to all of my questions.

4) After the orientation, I was given a task list of items to complete to get ready for my home study. Here is the list of things I had to complete:

• Copy of my tax return
• Employment verification letter notarized
• Letters of reference from six non-relatives
• Notarized health report from my doctor (had to go get a physical)
• Copy of my driving record (oops had a ticket on it!)
• A child abuse screening from the state of Missouri (had to complete an application and they did a background check to make sure I had no criminal history and no abuse allegations).
• Copy of my health insurance policy stating that my child would be covered upon finalization of the adoption.
• Financial statement listing all of my assets and debts.
• Complete a pediatric CPR class
• Write a 2-3 page autobiography to help the adoption coordinator become aquainted with me prior to the actual home visit.

5) Have my social worker come to my house to perform the home study. This consisted of about a 2 hour interview to go into the details of my life from birth to the present. I had to tell about my parents and siblings and nieces and nephews. It was a challenge because I was asked for ages, dates of marriage, education, employment. It is hard enough to keep track of my own life but to have to remember the details of everyone in my families.....well I did get through it. After the interview process, she took a tour of the house which was a lot less painful than I anticipated. She really just looked into each room and made sure that I had smoke detectors and fire extinguishers on both levels of the house. She then walked around the yard and that was it.

6) Rough draft of home study. The homestudy has to be written up in a certain format. The Monday following the homestudy (the previous Wednesday) my case worker, emailed me a rough draft to make sure she had all the names, dates and details correct. I made a few corrections. Today I received the final, notarized copy of the home study as well as a copy for my own records. I am now ready for the next step!

7) Apply to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) which was fomerly called INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services). I have to complete a form called the I-600a which is a petitiion for advance processing of ann orphan. This basically gives me permission to bring my daughter into the United States. The application is just a 2 page form. The home study is part of the requirement for this process. So my next step will be to make an appointment (which can be done online) to submit my application and go be fingerprinted. I should be able to get this done in the next week. The approval process takes 2-6 weeks typically in the Kansas City area.

8) Prepare my dossier. What is a dossier? It is a compilation of about 25 documents that are required to be submitted in a particular format. Most of them need to be certified and authenticated. Many of the documents are similar to the home study docuements but have to be put into a specific format for the Guatemalan courts. Fortunately, my adoption coordinator takes care of the bulk of this process.

• Get a ceritified copy of my birth certificate. Thankfully, I started on this back in January because it took about 2 months to get this back from the State Department (since I was born abroad while my father was in the Air Force). The agency had actually advised me to start on this even before I had formally been accepted into the program since it can take a long time. I am grateful that I did otherwise I would still be waiting for it.
• Get a passport. I had already applied and received my passport so I just had to send a copy of it.
• Get a police clearance letter from my local police department. This had to show that I had no criminal history in the town I live in. Also had to be notarized.

So, today I received my completed home study in the mail with the instructions on completing my I-600a with USCIS. I have gathered the items that I need to for my dossier and just need to go into the agency next Wednesday to sign a couple of other documents and have them notarized there in the office. Things are moving along very smoothly so far.

While I am waiting for my approval from USCIS, my adoption coordinator will be working on my dossier. All of the documents have been notarized but they also have to be ceritified which basically means that they have to be taken to the Secretary of State of eitherKansas or Missouri (depending on where the notary was commisioned from). The Secretary of State attaches a letter of certification to each document that basically says that the notary is really a notary and has a current commission. After all of the documents have been certified, they have to be authenticated. This process is done by sending all of the certified documents to the Guatemalan consolate who basically reviews all of the documents to make sure they are in the correct format. They then attach an authentication letter to each document.

After I have received my approval from USCIS and my dossier has been authenticated, my dossier will be sent to the adoption attorney that the agency works with in Guatemala. They will then match me to a child. The typical wait is 2 days to 2 weeks but could be longer. I have requested a daughter ranging in age from 0-18 months. I will be sent pictures and a brief medical history of the child and have a couple of days to decide on whether I accpet the referral. At this point, the process enters the Guatemalan part of the process. I will put those 10 steps in my next post.

As you can see, adoption is not an easy process. Thankfully, I have been blessed with good friends and family who are supporting me and encouraging me through the process. Also, thankfully I am somewhat organized and have created a task list for myself to keep me on schedule to get everything completed as quickly as possible. The hardest part will be when things are no longer in my control. The waiting will be hard but the end result will be worth it! I have created more tasks for myself to hopefully make the waiting more bareable.

Well, enough for now. I will try to write more and post some pictures soon.