We thought we would write and give everyone a quick update on our adoption. There really is not much to say as we are just waiting for our regional assignment, which will probably come sometime next Spring or Summer.
We are fairly close to a few other couples also adopting from Colombia. Two of the couples received their regional assignments and we are anxiously waiting to see what happens from here. This is our first time to see this part of the process in action.
We have been doing a lot to get ready for our new little one. We bought some furniture for the nursery, Chris has been picking up a few things at garage sales and we have been reading through our children’s books to refresh our memories of our favorite stories. We also had a garage sale last weekend as a fundraiser. It was probably the hottest day of the year (at least it seemed like it to us). There were not many people out, nevertheless we had the biggest and best sale in our neighborhood. A couple of people came back for seconds. Paul put up a sign thanking our family and friends who donated items. Not 2 minutes after the signs were up, someone came up to us and began telling us about their daughter they had adopted 20 something years ago. We thought that was neat. He said he might drop by sometime to see how things are progressing.
A few weeks ago we were able to meet Julie, our social worker in Oregon. Children’s Hope sponsored a dinner for all Colombian families to come meet her. She sat at our table (which happened to be full of people still waiting for their children) and she was barely able to eat because we kept asking questions. It was a rare opportunity to meet her face-to-face and get to talk with her. She is so gracious and patient. She never acted putout or disappointed that she had to eat a cold dinner and answer the same questions she has been asked hundreds of times.
There were so many children at the dinner. We had forgotten how many families we have been able to see come together. It was nice to have everyone in one room visiting. The event was an excellent resource for us. Everyone is so tickled when you ask about their children and their trip; they provide a lot of encouragement and advise. (Take a look at the photos)
Children’s Hope has an annual picnic in St. Louis. Julie sent us the link to view the pictures (http://www.childrenshopeint.org/colombiaupdate.html) and a link for a news interview with a mother whose family has adopted 3 children from Colombia. http://wb11tv.trb.com/news/kplr-news-071506-1,0,4067270.story
Colombia news: In the last few months Colombia has elected a new president. He is considered to be a conservative and ally to the U.S.
General adoption news: There is upcoming legislation regarding the form the INS (now a part of the Div. of Homeland Security) requires all adoptive families to complete and have approved before they are allowed to bring their child into the states. The form is the I-171h. The application fee for this is $545, plus $70 per person for fingerprints. The proposal is to allow the approval to last for 2 years instead of 18 months.
Why is this important to us? The approval is required by the country you are adopting from before that country will approve your adoption. Often the wait between the time the form is approved and when you go get your child is more than 18 months. This requires the parents re-apply and, yes, pay those fees again. While the fees listed above are the ones required by the INS to process the application, there are also fees for the paperwork submitted to the INS with their application (ex. homestudy, certified copy of birth certificates, marriage license).
If you are interested in influencing this legislation, please contact your congressperson and encourage them to move forward on it.
The legislation will not help us with this adoption, but it will save us money on the next one.
Thank you for being part of our adoption adventure. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. We will keep you posted every few months.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Colombian Approval Received!!
We received an e-mail on Saturday, April 22nd that our dossier was approved by Colombia. We are now officially allowed to adopt from the country. We prayed for a shorter than estimated approval time and it came in a few weeks early. The original estimate was 4-5 months, which would have put our approval in early June at the latest. We were blessed that we received ours in almost exactly 3 months.
We have been told that the country’s government completely closes down from the middle of December through January. We were also told, by some parents who traveled in January, that this is an election year and that has slowed things down, as the government has to compensate for the turnover in officers/staff.
The next step in the process is being assigned to a region in Colombia. Our child will come from an orphanage in this region. We will receive our regional assignment a couple of months before we travel.
When do we get to meet Baby Sinclair? Our social worker said we can expect a referral in 14-20 months! (A referral is what they call it when they have a baby for us. They will send us a picture and their medical information). This is much longer than when we first began the process, but it gives us more time to prepare.
We have had a name picked out for a baby girl for a long time now, but we are still struggling to come up with a boy’s name. If it is a girl, she will be Isabelle, which means “Consecrated to God.” We are planning to call her Belle for short.
I have a couple of boy’s names that I have asked Paul about at least a dozen times, but nothing seems to “feel right” to us.
Every step and every month we get more excited. We still have a lot to do to get ready for Baby Sinclair. We will keep you all posted on the progress of things. As always, we sincerely appreciate your prayers and sentiments. Please do not hesitate to call or email us; we enjoy hearing from everyone.
We have been told that the country’s government completely closes down from the middle of December through January. We were also told, by some parents who traveled in January, that this is an election year and that has slowed things down, as the government has to compensate for the turnover in officers/staff.
The next step in the process is being assigned to a region in Colombia. Our child will come from an orphanage in this region. We will receive our regional assignment a couple of months before we travel.
When do we get to meet Baby Sinclair? Our social worker said we can expect a referral in 14-20 months! (A referral is what they call it when they have a baby for us. They will send us a picture and their medical information). This is much longer than when we first began the process, but it gives us more time to prepare.
We have had a name picked out for a baby girl for a long time now, but we are still struggling to come up with a boy’s name. If it is a girl, she will be Isabelle, which means “Consecrated to God.” We are planning to call her Belle for short.
I have a couple of boy’s names that I have asked Paul about at least a dozen times, but nothing seems to “feel right” to us.
Every step and every month we get more excited. We still have a lot to do to get ready for Baby Sinclair. We will keep you all posted on the progress of things. As always, we sincerely appreciate your prayers and sentiments. Please do not hesitate to call or email us; we enjoy hearing from everyone.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Adoption Update Part 2
We were cleared by Immigration and Naturalization Services in December to bring our little one into the USA. We will most likely have to update this application and several other pieces of paperwork by the time we travel.
Our entire package was submitted to Colombia in the first part of January. It takes about 2 weeks for someone to translate it, then it is sent to the ICBF (Colombia’s equivalent of our DFS program in the US). The ICBF is the one who actually approves applications to adopt a Colombian child. We can expect to hear back as to whether or not we have been approved in April or May. Then we are assigned to a region in Colombia from which we will be adopting. It is our understanding that we will not be assigned to a region until 3 months or so before traveling. The assignment is a sign that we will be parents within a few months.
Judging from the last email we received from our social worker it will still be about 18-22 months before we travel. It is a very long wait and there are several of us waiting. However, since we began the process in June we have seen 4 families come home with children. One family got 1 child, one family got 2, one got 3 and one got FOUR CHILDREN! Those adopting from Colombia typically get a sibling group, not just one child. Not to worry, we are signed up for one, unless there are twins, or possibly some other extenuating circumstance. We are cleared to bring 2 home, but we only intend to get one… unless it is twins. Chris really wants twins.
We are very relieved to have our paperwork turned in to the country. Now we just have to wait until the time gets a little closer and we can start updating our paperwork. What are we doing in the mean time? Well, the adoption agency has provided us with a travel guide that we are reading. It touches on everything from the way our child might handle the adoption to what to take to the country. We will be in Colombia for 3-4 weeks and they will try to let us know where our hotel reservation is 1 or 2 days before we travel. We are going to read, read, read.
What can you do to help the time go more quickly? First of all pray. We would like prayers for a speedy approval from Colombia. Other things to pray about are for our baby, of course, and for its birth family, that baby Sinclair will come from an already loving home and be used to a family environment. Pray for a healthy mother who loves and nurtures her baby while it is in her womb and while she cares for it before it goes into the hands of the ICBF. Please pray that we will be good parents worthy of such a blessing and that the time will seem to go by quickly for us.
Other things you can do are to just ask questions if you have them. We are always open to talking about our adoption and the plans we have. Feel free to refer people to us if they are considering adoption and have some questions about the process. You can send pictures of your children to us and let us know what they are doing at that age. Our child is going to be between 9 and 14 months when we come home. We would love to know what your child did at that age and some of the tools you used to teach them and bond with them.
We are excited beyond what words can say and we are so thankful to have you, our family and friends, to share our joy. Thank you for the prayers you have already offered and for your warm regards. We will keep you posted as things progress.
Our entire package was submitted to Colombia in the first part of January. It takes about 2 weeks for someone to translate it, then it is sent to the ICBF (Colombia’s equivalent of our DFS program in the US). The ICBF is the one who actually approves applications to adopt a Colombian child. We can expect to hear back as to whether or not we have been approved in April or May. Then we are assigned to a region in Colombia from which we will be adopting. It is our understanding that we will not be assigned to a region until 3 months or so before traveling. The assignment is a sign that we will be parents within a few months.
Judging from the last email we received from our social worker it will still be about 18-22 months before we travel. It is a very long wait and there are several of us waiting. However, since we began the process in June we have seen 4 families come home with children. One family got 1 child, one family got 2, one got 3 and one got FOUR CHILDREN! Those adopting from Colombia typically get a sibling group, not just one child. Not to worry, we are signed up for one, unless there are twins, or possibly some other extenuating circumstance. We are cleared to bring 2 home, but we only intend to get one… unless it is twins. Chris really wants twins.
We are very relieved to have our paperwork turned in to the country. Now we just have to wait until the time gets a little closer and we can start updating our paperwork. What are we doing in the mean time? Well, the adoption agency has provided us with a travel guide that we are reading. It touches on everything from the way our child might handle the adoption to what to take to the country. We will be in Colombia for 3-4 weeks and they will try to let us know where our hotel reservation is 1 or 2 days before we travel. We are going to read, read, read.
What can you do to help the time go more quickly? First of all pray. We would like prayers for a speedy approval from Colombia. Other things to pray about are for our baby, of course, and for its birth family, that baby Sinclair will come from an already loving home and be used to a family environment. Pray for a healthy mother who loves and nurtures her baby while it is in her womb and while she cares for it before it goes into the hands of the ICBF. Please pray that we will be good parents worthy of such a blessing and that the time will seem to go by quickly for us.
Other things you can do are to just ask questions if you have them. We are always open to talking about our adoption and the plans we have. Feel free to refer people to us if they are considering adoption and have some questions about the process. You can send pictures of your children to us and let us know what they are doing at that age. Our child is going to be between 9 and 14 months when we come home. We would love to know what your child did at that age and some of the tools you used to teach them and bond with them.
We are excited beyond what words can say and we are so thankful to have you, our family and friends, to share our joy. Thank you for the prayers you have already offered and for your warm regards. We will keep you posted as things progress.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Adoption Update Part 1
We thought we better update everyone on the adoption of baby Sinclair.
First of all, we want to say thank you to all of you who have been praying for us. Your prayers have been a source of reassurance and they have helped us tremendously. We know that we cannot make it through this process without the Lord’s hand being involved. Thank you to all of you who have let us talk your ear off about our adoption. And thank you to everyone who has donated money to our adoption fund. We are so encouraged by your support and cannot thank you enough for investing part of your time, emotions and money into the adoption.
One of the major blessings we have received so far is that we have not had to take out a loan. Donations and the fundraiser have met most of the adoption costs thus far.
We submitted our application to the adoption agency and they approved us in June. We were then given a list of items to obtain for our application to the country, Colombia. Some of the things we did not expect to encounter were an FBI clearance, multiple finger printings and a psychological evaluation. We honestly thought the paperwork would never slow down – document our birth, health, income, life insurance, marriage, intentions of parenting, our motives for adoption and why Colombia.
We were very blessed in our psych. evaluation, although we had some trouble with the first psychologist. When the first “psycho” (no exaggeration) had us come in we knew we were going to have to take a test, but we were told we would have to take it in an additional session because it had to be completed in his office due to copyright laws and they were getting ready to close for the day. He also said that we would need another 1 or 2 sessions to discuss his findings. How he determined we would need another 1or 2 sessions is beyond me as we were only in there about 30 minutes. He also said some very discouraging things and was not very sensitive to our situation. I don’t know if he was looking for a reaction to what he was saying or if he just wasn’t thinking. Needless to say, we cancelled all future appointments with him and found a new doctor who was able to meet us after work, let us take the test home and the test the second doctor gave us was only about 175 questions (the other guy was going to give us about 500 questions). Everything was completed in one session, which saved hundreds of dollars.
Upon obtaining all of the information we needed, we had to make sure it was all notarized, then we had to send each piece of paperwork back to the state from which it originated to be Apostilled (verification that the notary really is licensed).
We also applied for our passports (yes, we think our pictures are the worst of anybody’s). Paul applied in Kansas and got his in about 2 weeks. Chris applied in Missouri and about four weeks later got a notice saying it had been sent to the processing office in New Orleans and due to Hurricane Katrina would likely be delayed. We called the number on the card and they said that it was sent to us the day before. What a blessing!!! We are just going to count our blessings as we go here.
See Part 2 for update continuation......
First of all, we want to say thank you to all of you who have been praying for us. Your prayers have been a source of reassurance and they have helped us tremendously. We know that we cannot make it through this process without the Lord’s hand being involved. Thank you to all of you who have let us talk your ear off about our adoption. And thank you to everyone who has donated money to our adoption fund. We are so encouraged by your support and cannot thank you enough for investing part of your time, emotions and money into the adoption.
One of the major blessings we have received so far is that we have not had to take out a loan. Donations and the fundraiser have met most of the adoption costs thus far.
We submitted our application to the adoption agency and they approved us in June. We were then given a list of items to obtain for our application to the country, Colombia. Some of the things we did not expect to encounter were an FBI clearance, multiple finger printings and a psychological evaluation. We honestly thought the paperwork would never slow down – document our birth, health, income, life insurance, marriage, intentions of parenting, our motives for adoption and why Colombia.
We were very blessed in our psych. evaluation, although we had some trouble with the first psychologist. When the first “psycho” (no exaggeration) had us come in we knew we were going to have to take a test, but we were told we would have to take it in an additional session because it had to be completed in his office due to copyright laws and they were getting ready to close for the day. He also said that we would need another 1 or 2 sessions to discuss his findings. How he determined we would need another 1or 2 sessions is beyond me as we were only in there about 30 minutes. He also said some very discouraging things and was not very sensitive to our situation. I don’t know if he was looking for a reaction to what he was saying or if he just wasn’t thinking. Needless to say, we cancelled all future appointments with him and found a new doctor who was able to meet us after work, let us take the test home and the test the second doctor gave us was only about 175 questions (the other guy was going to give us about 500 questions). Everything was completed in one session, which saved hundreds of dollars.
Upon obtaining all of the information we needed, we had to make sure it was all notarized, then we had to send each piece of paperwork back to the state from which it originated to be Apostilled (verification that the notary really is licensed).
We also applied for our passports (yes, we think our pictures are the worst of anybody’s). Paul applied in Kansas and got his in about 2 weeks. Chris applied in Missouri and about four weeks later got a notice saying it had been sent to the processing office in New Orleans and due to Hurricane Katrina would likely be delayed. We called the number on the card and they said that it was sent to us the day before. What a blessing!!! We are just going to count our blessings as we go here.
See Part 2 for update continuation......
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