Change in Adoption Timeline

Sorry we haven't written in awhile. We have had a lot going on and we're now ready to give an update on things. In mid-April we found out we were pregnant. Because of my history, we went to the doctor right away for blood work, and had three ultrasounds up until 8 weeks. Everything looked really good. When we made it to 10 weeks, the doctor said it was time to talk with our adoption agency. Bethany Christian Services told us that we could go ahead and submit our Dossier, but they will put a hold on the referral until our biological baby is 6 months old. Our due date is December 12th, which means about a year from now they will re-open our adoption case so that we will be eligible to receive a referral. Last week we received our I-171H approval form in the mail and that was the last piece we needed for our Dossier. We will head down on Friday to the Secretary of State's office to have it State Sealed and then we will drop it off at Bethany. We appreciate your continued prayers for the pregnancy and for the timing of the adoption.

Fingerprinting completed

We had our fingerprinting appointment yesterday morning at 8:00 downtown.  There were quite a few people waiting so we were a little concerned it might take awhile. But at 8:05, we were called back!  It only took about 15 minutes. Ryan had a person who was training so his took a little longer. :-)  They scanned our four fingers together and then thumb on each hand. Then they did each finger one at a time rolling it on the glass. It was neat to see our prints on the computer. So, now we are officially in the FBI system. We expect to wait about 3 - 6 weeks for the 171-H approval form so we can finish our Dossier.

Homestudy

I picked up our homestudy at Bethany this afternoon.  We will now mail it to the Department of Homeland Security. We are being fingerprinted on Monday and then hopefully within 3 - 6 weeks we will receive the 171 approval form so we can finish our Dossier. Then we will be completely done with all paperwork until the Referral! I am on spring break this week so we decided to paint the nursery. Here are some pictures.

Fingerprinting Appointment

Just a quick note to inform everyone that we received our fingerprinting appointment notice that will be at the Department of Homeland Security. It is Monday April 13th at 8:00AM in downtown Indianapolis.  This is part of the process of the I-600A application.  We are still waiting to receive our home study from Bethany, but hope to have it in the next couple of weeks to submit that as well.  

One month down...

Our Home Study was approved on Friday, February 13th which was the official start of our waiting period. One month has flown by. We pray the next five to seven months go just as fast. On Monday we filed the I-600A which is the form sent to the U.S. Center of Immigration Services to get approval to adopt an orphan. It usually takes about 3 months to process. In the next couple of weeks we will be looking for a letter that informs us of the date and time of our fingerprinting appointment. When we receive the approval form we will submit our Dossier and officially be done with all of the paperwork! Please continue to pray for no delays in paperwork and that our I-600A form will be approved quickly!

Ethiopian Insight meeting

On Monday I attended a meeting at Bethany that focused solely on Ethiopian adoption. Ryan was out of town for work so unfortunately he wasn't able to come. It was great to meet other people in the program and hear how their process has been going.  There were probably about 20 - 25 families there and most of them were at the point where we are. There was a family who had received a referral the end of January for a little boy . It was fun to see their pictures. Their court date is set for April and they plan to travel the beginning of May.  The meeting gave more information about Ethiopian culture and what to expect when we travel.  They recommended traveling 3 - 4 days before our Adoption Week to adjust to the time change and to spend time learning more about the country. One thing Ryan is very excited about is participating in a coffee ceremony. Ethiopia is considered the birthplace of coffee and I got to see pictures of people having a coffee ceremony. They roast the beans right in front of you and serve popcorn with it. I will stick to just the popcorn while Ryan will surely drink enough coffee for the both of us. :-) They spoke very highly of the orphanages and how the nannies are very affectionate with the children.  There is about a seven to one ratio of children to nannies. We also learned the process of the court systems and all of the legalities that must take place in order to make the adoption official. I also got to hear from the pastor of an Ethiopian Evangelical church in Indianapolis.  He passed around a Bible written in Amharic and talked about the culture of Ethiopia.  Ryan and I most definitely will visit his church. Overall the meeting was wonderful and I went away with a lot more knowledge of the country our child will be from. Currently we are still waiting to receive a copy of our home study so we can file the I-600A form. Again we are learning to be patient...thank you for your prayers!

February 13th...

Today we get to celebrate love with some great news.  We received an email from Holly last night that are Home Study has been approved and it is headed to the National office in Grand Rapids. This means that Friday, February 13th was the official start to our waiting time to receive a Referral!!! We are hoping for a 6-8 month wait for the referral.  At that time, provided everything goes smooth with the referral, our court date in Ethiopia will be 2-3 months from the date of acceptance of the referral.  We could travel before Christmas!  Happy Valentine's Day to all, may you celebrate and love well!