Update on Adoption #2....

This update is long overdue and we have had many people asking us the status of our second adoption. First let us say, NO – we haven’t heard anything/received a video yet! :) Everything went fairly smoothly this time but was a little more frustrating. There were additional requirements to complete this time around making the dossier list as follows:

State criminal clearances
FBI criminal clearances
State child abuse clearances
Employment letters
Homeownership letter
Copy of Deed to home
Letter from mortgage company
Guardianship letters
Copies of passport photo pages
Photo sheets
Copies of Marriage license
Reference letters
Analysis of Monthly Income & Expenditures
Physicals

Physician's License

Letter from State Medical Board
MMPI-2
Psychologist License
Letter from Veterinarian
1040 Tax forms (last 3 years)
USCIS Approval

Even though we had done almost all of these 2 years ago, we had to start all over again and complete everything again. In addition to completing the requirements we were also responsible for getting several of the documents notarized and then apostilled (which means we sent the documents to Harrisburg and basically got the notary’s signature notarized). The agency took care of getting these documents notarized and apostilled for Andrew’s process and this was a large part of our frustration because we felt things weren’t explained very well in the beginning. We began gathering most of these items in July and had everything (including our 2 home study visits with our social worker, Rita, and our fingerprints at the Dept of Homeland Security) done by late September. We received our USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) approval on September 29 which was the final piece of our dossier.

Laurie was in touch with our case/social worker at the agency, Sarah, last week and she said that we are currently first in line for HER clients waiting for girls. There are 2 other case/social workers who have clients that have been waiting longer than us for girls though. That doesn't necessarily mean that we still have a long road ahead of waiting but it could. Laurie asked Sarah why the process is taking longer for girls than boys, she said that right now almost all of their clients are requesting girls to adopt and that the Russians adopt more girls than boys so there are less girls available in the orphanages.

We are hoping to hear something this month or next, but we really have no idea. Once we hear from them and accept a referral, it will be approx 8-10 weeks until we travel there to meet her (although it could be shorter or longer) and then another 8-10 weeks until court. As we know from Andrew's process, it's all very unpredictable and there are always "things" that can happen!

We very much appreciate everyone's prayers as we wait. Andrew is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his little sister (as are we). If you ask him where his sister is, he says "in Russia" and he claims that he is going to carry her around & change her diaper when she comes home :)