Paperwork sent to China!

Our paperwork was sent to China on Friday! Yay!

Now we wait for a LID (log-in date) from China (the date China actually logs in our paperwork). The date is usually a few days after we send our paperwork, but we won't know the LID for about a month. Now our agency can start trying to match us with a child. I heard that there is a list coming out today. We'll see what happens. :-)

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Update on Adoption

We had our first home visit yesterday with the FRC (Family Resource Center) social worker. The social worker basically comes to your house for a few hours, asks a bunch of invasive questions and then looks around to make sure your chemicals/medications are up high or locked (which, of course, none of ours were) and that our smoke detectors work (worked perfectly) and that if we had a fire in our house and the doors were blocked that the kids would have some way of getting out (I told her that they should jump out the window - a broken leg is better than being on fire - I don't know if that was the right answer).

We are working with CAWLI (China Adoption With Love, Inc.) for the placement portion of the adoption. They are located in Massachusetts. We chose them because we heard they were great and they are cheap. My friend Christy did a lot of research and is knowledgeable in all things adoption, and she and her husband are also starting the process to adopt their fourth child. So, I'm just doing what she's doing.

So here's how this works:

- we complete our home study and get fingerprinted (get cleared by the FBI) - takes about 2 months (we're about half way or more through this now). This also includes the 10 hours of training we need to get on things like: what to expect when you adopt and what problems could possibly arise when adopting from China - this is basically red tape to make sure everyone is on the same page. They don't account for experience - that we have adopted two children from China already. We don't have a special training certificate for that, so it doesn't count. It also doesn't count if you're in two adoption support groups, have read 20+ books and watched multiple DVDs on adoption. It counts if you've sat in a classroom and listened to a speaker talk about adoption- or parenting-related issues. Lame.

- FRC must submit our home study to CAWLI, DCFS, us, and some other place for approval - about 4 weeks

- then we submit our home study with our Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child (I-800A form) - takes 2-3 weeks

- get fingerprinted again

- receive approval to adopt (receive form I-171H) - about 6-8 weeks after being fingerprinted 2nd time.

- CAWLI will process our dossier (all our paperwork/home study) - get it translated, notarized, certified, authenticated - 3-4 weeks

- CAWLI sends the dossier to China

- wait for referral - the time for this depends on the number of children that the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) puts on the viewing list that match the child with special needs we feel we're equipped to handle (girl, age 0-3, born with cleft lip/palate and/or orthopedic issues like club foot, missing limbs, and others), as well as how fast our reps fingers are at CAWLI. CAWLI waits in the middle of the night for the list to come out on a pre-determined day - given by CCAA - then the different agencies basically compete against each other to "lock-in" a child for the families they're representing (therefore, the need for fast fingers). The lists come out about 1x/month. This method doesn't seem right somehow, but this is the way China is doing it. So, our wait for a referral could be a few days or months depending on how many other families in the world are waiting for a child with the same needs as we are and how many children are available with those needs. Cleft lip/palate is the most common special need seen. Our rep at CAWLI thinks our wait may be on the shorter side because we are open to a child up to age 3, but because we are seeking a girl, that could make it a longer wait.

- after we get our referral we send our acceptance letter of the referral to China and plan our travel - about 8-12 weeks.

- spend 2 weeks in China.

So, to sum it up, we're looking at least 7-12 months before we would travel to China.

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Heading Back to China!

Well, it looks like we're heading back to China, so I figured I'd resurrect this old blog to share about our journey with those interested.

We did a lot of research, not really intending to go back to China, but ended up narrowing down our options to Ethiopia and China. The week we began to ask questions of agencies we were told that the Ethiopia program would probably be cut by 90% that week! Ninety percent fewer adoptions?! Sad, especially because of the reasons for that cut. So, off to China we'll go.

We've been working on our home study paperwork for the past month and are preparing to submit an application with a placement agency this week (we have to use an IL agency for our home study, then any other agency for our placement - meaning they help place the child in our home). We're hoping to adopt a girl born with cleft lip/palate (CL/P). The boys are absolutely set on having a little sister. I was surprised by this. The way things are working in China, we could possibly travel in about a year, maybe less to pick her up. It all depends on how many girls with CL/P are on the list to adopt.

I recently read that 36% of orphans with a special need in China have CL/P. I also read that birth defects are up by 40%(!) over the past 10 years in China. And it is estimated that 1 in 8 to 10 children born in China have birth defects. Shocking! So many children. The orphanages are being overburdened. "Special needs children get abandoned because of the stigma associated with disabilities and/or because of medical costs. Extended family, espcially the mother-in-law, will insist that a disabled child be abandoned becasue the child is considered unlucky, a curse on the family. Children with visible disabilities will be refused education, and when they grow up will have difficulty finding a job. Medical costs can be too high for a family to bear -- there is no health insurance, no free health care in China." Here is a link to that article: http://www.china-adoption-online.com/lwb.html

I'll try to update our blog as things move along. If you subscribe to the blog then you won't have to keep checking back, you'll just receive an email when I publish a post.

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We made it home!...finally.

Wow, what a trip. We made it home at 3:00am this morning (Monday). We left with only an hour delay from the HK airport around 1pm (midnight Sat/Sun here). We made it to LAX in about 12 hours. Only Sheehan cried and shreaked for the last 20 minutes of the trip during landing. He was definitely tired and didn't enjoy being woken up to put on his seatbelt.

Then we deboarded to immigration at the same time as two other international flights. It took us about 1.5 hours to get through immigration (for Josiah). Even though it looked like we were probably going to miss our 1:04pm (LA time) flight, it didn't matter b/c it was cancelled. Steve stood in a line to get on another flight for about 45 minutes. He was able to get us confirmed on the 7:45pm flight, and stand-by on the 4:55. For about an hour, Kate, Sheehan and Josiah all fell asleep on the airport floor following our 80th McDonald's meal. Then we headed over to the gate to see about getting on stand-by. There was only one seat left on the 4:55, so we couldn't get on that plane. We found another corner to sleep in and the boys and I fell asleep on some seats ... quite an upgrade from the floor. We got up and walked down to the other gate where our flight would leave from. The boys were entertained by a family from Vietnam who had been on our flight from HK. One of the women even bought them both Chunky bars and they were giving the boys all their snacks. That kept them happy. We boarded the flight and the boys stayed awake the entire time. I'm sure the people were wondering why they were still awake at that crazy hour. Considering we'd been traveling for 24 hours I was wondering myself. Josiah did not like the seat belt upon landing or the fact that I gathered all his toys together and put them away. He screamed at the top of his lungs (I'm not exaggerating) for the 10 minutes we took to land. I'm sure everyone around us was very pleased.

Steve's Dad and Geri were waiting at the baggage claim to pick us up and to meet their newest grandson. Sheehan went running down the hall toward them when he saw them. He was so excited. He kept asking when we would be home as we were flying in. Josiah enjoyed meeting both Grandpa and Grandma and loved the attention...not to mention the stuffed horse they brought him (Sheehan received a stuffed bull). Josiah fell asleep in the carseat on the way home and didn't wake up until 11:30am. Sheehan stayed up until around 9:30am. Ahhh...Steve and I took turns. I stayed up until 6:30am until I couldn't handle it anymore and was getting really cranky trying to "sleep" on the couch and Sheehan kept pulling the pillow off my head to ask me questions. I went in and woke Steve up and we switched. He went into the living room and stayed up with Sheehan until he fell asleep at 9:30. We all were awake by noon and Steve's Dad and Geri came over from their hotel and we ordered pizza and they played with the kids. Around 6pm everyone "napped" and woke up around 9pm. Josiah is still asleep and so is Sheehan. Steve and I are both awake and feel bored. It's such a weird feeling. I actually feel too tired (exhausted) to read and too awake to sleep. Total jetlag. Maybe we'll get outside tomorrow.

Thanks for following along on our trip. It was definitely enjoyable and for me WAY better than our last trip to China...poor Steve and Sheehan got sick this time (but are definitely on the mend). I highly recommend Hong Kong for anyone who wants to enjoy an exotic vacation. It was beautiful...just don't go during monsoon season like we did. Also, we're still not sure what the bumps are all over Josiah and Sheehan. I plan to contact the doctor tomorrow. They seem to be popping up even though we weren't around any bugs...plus, Steve and I never had any of these. Geri suggested Chicken Pox. I don't know what these things are. They are primarily on their legs and arms.

Ok, I have to go, Josiah just woke up and is hungry. We decided to go to Denny's for dinner...or is it breakfast? We're not sure.

Sleeping at the airport

Playing with Vietnamese friends

Waiting...

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