Few people are familiar with the process of adopting a child through any means, and the process for those who have done so domestically, or internationally (even from China) through a traditional program is still different from the China Waiting Child program through which we are adopting Xue.
Here's what's happened so far:
Over the summer of 2011, I did lots of research and we made the decision to adopt from China through the waiting child program at CCAI.
Medical Conditions Checklist
In August, we submitted our "Medical Conditions Checklist". Basically, this is a form with a long list of medical conditions commonly (or relatively commonly) seen in children in China's waiting child program. You go through the list, learn about conditions that you are unfamiliar with, and check "yes" "no" or "maybe" for each. Some examples are: cleft lip and palate, club foot (one or both), scars/burns, hepatitis B, hearing loss, albinism and low vision, missing/extra fingers/toes, spina bifida, various heart conditions, paralysis, hernia, gastroschisis, genital malformations, etc. If you want to see the list or look into adopting a waiting child, HERE it is.
Because of my studies in preparation to become a midwife, I was already familiar with most of these conditions, but we did some extra study and discussed them together. One of our parent training teachers said at CCAI is that almost always one parent is more gung-ho than the other, or as Lashi and I say it, "He is the anchor, I am the motor." You really need both to get somewhere safely.
Because we try to be very deliberate and careful with our finances and planning, we made a spreadsheet listing out costs and the timeline in which we could actually pay for the adoption. We knew that there are financial helps available, but wanted to be able to pay the whole of it if we are not able to qualify for any of those. My grandparents very generously gave us a loan to cover the homestudy and get us started.
In late December 2011, we submitted our formal application to CCAI and attended an orientation class at their headquarters in South Denver (on S. Holly Circle).
THE HOMESTUDY
In January and February 2012, we completed our homestudy with our social worker, Lisa Staab. We filled out extensive questionnaires that covered everything from our relationship with our mother to discipline to our sex life and more. I would not have been surprised to have needed to record the color of my poo for a month, but that was not one of the questions. At least we know they are thorough. When we had completed those, Lisa came to our home and toured it, making sure that it was safe and of adequate size to support another child. She interviewed Lashi and I together and separately, as well as talking to each of the children. It's one of those moments that makes a parent hold their breath with nervousness, but the children were themselves and they did fine. Liam told her about sea urchins and said that he's fine having another sister, except that she'll be "another human to deal with". Antigone explained our chore chart, Brian said he gets in trouble because he gets "sucked into the TV", Dmitri roared at her and told her about Spinosaurus, and Erik refused to look at her. Yup, those are my kids! :)
The home study also includes the clearances from our child abuse records search, letters of reference from friends, letters of recommendation from the children's teachers, financial records, and medical exam reports from our doctors.
In February we also began collecting and producing the various documents that are needed in our dossier to send to China.
THE MATCH!
Here's where our process differs from so many other processes. On February 16, I got a call from CCAI asking if we wanted to review Xue's file. She was designated as a "Special Focus" waiting child and her file was sent to CCAI (as opposed to the shared list, which is viewed by several agencies at once). We had said "maybe" for albinism on our Medical Conditions Checklist, not really giving the condition a whole lot of thought. We reviewed her file, looked at her pictures, did internet searches about albinism and talked to a couple doctors, then decided that this would be a good match. We sent a Letter of Intent (LOI) to China, and were sent a pre-acceptance letter back. Her file was pulled from the available waiting child pool and is being "reserved" for us until we officially get our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from China after our dossier is done.
THE DOSSIER
The dossier is the packet of authenticated paperwork that represents us to the Chinese Government.
It includes formal documents such as our birth certificates, and homemade documents such as our pictures, financial statement, and petition to adopt. There's a lot more, but that's a sample.
EVERYTHING in the dossier has to be notarized, then sent to the Secretary of State of the state in which it was produced, then sent to the Chinese Consulate that oversees that state. So, because I was born in Oregon and Lashi in Washington, our birth certificates are now in San Francisco getting "sealed" by the Chinese Consulate, while our marriage certificate and all other documents (produced in Colorado) are in Chicago at that consulate. When those come back, our dossier will be almost done, except for...
POLICE CLEARANCES AND IMMIGRATION
Oh boy, this is an adventure unto itself. First, we went and got fingerprinted at our local police station. I will post separately about THAT experience. Those prints are run through the CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation). When they came back clear (finally), the prints were sent on to the FBI to be checked at the federal level. That took another month.
Once our police clearances came back, we filled out and sent in our I-800A form (to determine our suitability to adopt from a Hague convention country) to USCIS (immigration services). They first go over our info, then they will send us instructions (in a few weeks here, we hope) to get a second set of fingerprints done at the state fingerprinting office in Aurora (near Denver). Hopefully that will be less "exciting" than the first fingerprinting trip. Those prints then go BACK to the FBI for their own round of checks. Because... the first ones didn't count? or maybe our fingers have changed? perhaps we're in the midst of a crime spree? Whatever. Let's just get this thing done.
WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW
Our I-800A is being processed at USCIS. We have not yet gotten the fingerprint appointment or cards.
Our dossier is almost done. Our documents are being sealed at the consulates. I need to fax over additional paperwork today to the San Francisco consulate.
WHAT'S NEXT?
When our I-797C comes back (the approval of our I-800A), that gets sealed at the consulate, then the whole dossier goes to CCAI. They will go over it several times, making sure everything is in order. When it gets the "all clear", it will be compiled and bound in a red folder (one BIG folder...) and mailed off to China. THEN, it will take a couple months to translate the whole thing into Mandarin.
Then we should get our approval letter (LOA). After that, visa and travel arrangements.
Currently, the estimate is that we will be traveling to bring our little girl home between October and December 2012.
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