Getting Started

We have come a long way since we started. As I go through all my old emails I discover that in July and early August I was looking into foster care and domestic adoption. I am sure this is because a friend talked to me about adopting a 9 month old little girl named Riley. She was adorable, but it never really entered my mind to adopt her. Aidan was too young. But, it stirred in me the commitment to either adopt or be a foster parent when the boys got older. What I learned during this time is how hard that is. Fostering is about reuniting families. And the back and forth from bio family to foster care leaves lots of scars. We learned that there are age caps. It wasn't going to be the fast and easy process I imagined. I poured over the Heart Gallery web pages for children up for adoption.
We went so far as to inquire about a teen age girl in Georgia named Krystal. As it turned out, Krystal was in her senior year and not interested in leaving her home.

On September 1, 2007 I registered with FRUA.ORG.

Then, a new school year began for me as a teacher. For the first time in my career I had adoptees in my class (that I knew of). In fact there are 6! 3 from Russia, 1 from China, and 2 domestic. Many of the adoptive parents were full of information for us. I love how Lorraine described adoption, "Domestic adoption is like nailing jello to the wall." These wonderful families pointed me towards Russia, and I began to research. In early September I started contacting agencies and by September 9th, I knew CSS was for us. On Sept. 9th I posted to the yahoo group, and got all kinds of wonderful replies. I have my first email from Sept. 10th that Katrina responded to. And, on the 11th they sent us our application. I also began to gather our vital statistics documents such as birth certificates and marriage licenses. On October 8th I sent our binder- yes binder! to CSS. Carol let me know they had it on Oct. 10th. We also contracted with Heart of Adoptions here in Tampa to do the Home study on Sept 19th. October 1st we sent our i600a and our check to the Tampa USCIS. The great binder creations were underway. One for the HOA application and one for the CSS application(well it was already gone)--Then a Vital Statistics one for us, a financial record one for us, a CSS document one, a Dossier Document one, and one for adoption documents and communications separate from these areas, such as a copy of the i600a. I went through boxes of page protectors as I created each binder.

October continued to be about document collection. We also focused on the Home study interviews and documents. We needed medical letters, criminal clearances, copies of all kinds of personal documents like our passports and marriage licenses. By Halloween we had gathered all of our documents and finished our interviews. We also completed all of our parent education for the Hague Treaty. We used Adoption Learning partners as requested by CSS. We took the Medical course, Attachment course, and With Eyes Wide Open. We began the first wait.

November went by. We got a letter to have our biometrics done for our i600a. No Home study. I sent nice emails every Tuesday.

December went by. I decided to send everything we had to be appostilled. Just to make sure we were doing it right. We had it back in one day! Perfect. On the 20th we had our biometrics appointment. Very simple and easy. In and out! No Home study. I stopped emailing in early December. I didn't want to annoy her.

Katrina emailed wondering if we were still pursuing adoption. They hadn't heard from us since we got our acceptance. (I was trying not to bug them either while I gathered documents)

January
Just so CSS didn't think we were backing out, we sent all our appostilled documents to them.

Almost 4 months after we contracted HOA we got our home study back. The first version was filled with errors. Ian's middle name had been changed to Allan. We had a son Michael, but Corbin, Collin and Aidan were gone. Ian's brother became a half brother and a whole section of history disappeared. So, we waited for it to be fixed. It was the hardest part of this process to date. I really thought that the HS would be written in November after we were interviewed, and as soon as the criminal reports were in, we would just notarize the document and be on our way. But the reports were in by mid December at the latest. I am not sure why we were put off like we were. But, we have it now and that is glorious. The lesson I learned is that passive doesn't always serve you.

January 27, 2008
With the HS in hand, along with Heart of Adoption's license and the agreement to do post placements, our dossier would be complete. The final documents went to Tallahassee and on to CSS.

We were so excited to be done.

But, wait. They said no. That Russia wouldn't like our medical. It was a letter saying we had a normal life expectancy. It wasn’t very specific. Of course, Ian had been in town a week and wasn't going to be back on a weekday for a month. If we had known days before it would have been an easy fix. How were we going to get his Dr. forms?? I went immediately, Feb. 6th and picked up my form on the 8th. Ian had to rearrange his schedule. He was already scheduled for meetings this week and for his 40th birthday he and Corbin are going skiing. So next week Ian will go in.

Feb 2nd, 2008
CSS got the HS and other Heart of Adoptions Papers from Tallahassee

Feb 7th, 2008
To my great joy, CSS went ahead and sent our dossier last Saturday with Ana and Russ to Moscow for translating. (Thanks Ana and Russ) Katrina doesn't think the MOE will register it without the correct medical form, but it is so wonderful to have it there.

So, now we sit and wait for Ian to have his medical appointment. If he goes on Tuesday, he can pick up the documents Thursday morning and then overnight them to Tallahassee. It will probably be Wednesday the 26th before CSS will have them. Then, maybe they can go over March 1st if any couples are traveling.

We are also waiting on our 171. The letter from USCIS says we should have it by March 7th. This lines up perfectly with the 6 week wait other Tampa families have experienced from the time their home study completes the application, to receipt of the 171.

I think Ian and I are going to go and get our fingerprints done and send off for the FBI report next week while he is here. We may have to do them again before court, but it will be nice to have a finished copy in our dossier, as needed.

I am also trying to create a binder for assessing our referral. We want to line up IA doctors here and in Russia to assess her. We also want to know how to assess her ourselves.

Another project on my horizon is a packing list. I might even grab a bag and start tossing things in it that we don't use daily. Like the toys we are going to take her.

Did I mention that we need to start working on our addition, so she has a beautiful new room to sleep in?