For those of you wondering "what now?", see the end of our prior blog post for a list of our next steps. :-)
April 19, 2012
LOA... Y-E-S!!!
After 81 days (but who's counting) of waiting since our Provisional Approval, we got the phone call at 5:05pm today with news of our Letter of Acceptance (LOA)!!! In simple terms, this means that our translated Dossier was reviewed and accepted by the CCCWA, and China has officially approved our adoption. The best part about this is that the unpredictable/unknown waiting time of this step is over. We've seen some families having to wait as long as 130 days, so we're very thankful we didn't have to wait any longer.
This LOA was the last document required so that we could overnight our I-800 form to the USCIS (which we hurried up and did before UPS closed at 7:00pm tonight). Another large stack of paperwork has left the Adolphs' home! With today's wonderful news, it now looks very likely that we'll travel to China in July to get our little girl!
For those of you wondering "what now?", see the end of our prior blog post for a list of our next steps. :-)
For those of you wondering "what now?", see the end of our prior blog post for a list of our next steps. :-)
April 11, 2012
One Year Later
It was one year ago today that we pulled the trigger and applied to our adoption agency. It has been fast and painfully slow all at the same time! It's like we've been "expecting" for a year, with several months to go. Multiple times a day we look at baby girl's pictures placed all over our house and there is just this pain in our hearts that we're stuck here waiting instead of jumping on a plane and going to get her! But we pray, and pray, and pray for her and for our patience and God is getting us through it one...day...at...a...time.
Several times a day Ella mentions her baby sister, usually in the context of something she thinks she'll like or something she wants to do with her. "Sister will really like to celebrate Easter with us next year!" "I can't wait for sister to come home so I can teach her to play piano!" And every mealtime and bedtime, Ella prays something like, "Dear God, thank you for our sister and please keep her safe and healthy and please bring her home soon." I have been brought to tears several times simply by hearing her say something about her sister.
A recent small milestone we hit was that our dossier changed to "in process" at the CCCWA. This happened on March 30, and it means that after 60 days of being translated, our dossier is now being reviewed by an officer to make sure we meet all of their criteria. But, it does not mean that we are done with this step. We still have weeks until we will get this coveted LOA (Letter of Acceptance) that says China officially approves us to adopt our baby girl. And after that, it will be 3 months until we travel. So, all that to say we are now looking at July/August for travel. So here is a summary of the remaining steps of the process:
"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14
Several times a day Ella mentions her baby sister, usually in the context of something she thinks she'll like or something she wants to do with her. "Sister will really like to celebrate Easter with us next year!" "I can't wait for sister to come home so I can teach her to play piano!" And every mealtime and bedtime, Ella prays something like, "Dear God, thank you for our sister and please keep her safe and healthy and please bring her home soon." I have been brought to tears several times simply by hearing her say something about her sister.
A recent small milestone we hit was that our dossier changed to "in process" at the CCCWA. This happened on March 30, and it means that after 60 days of being translated, our dossier is now being reviewed by an officer to make sure we meet all of their criteria. But, it does not mean that we are done with this step. We still have weeks until we will get this coveted LOA (Letter of Acceptance) that says China officially approves us to adopt our baby girl. And after that, it will be 3 months until we travel. So, all that to say we are now looking at July/August for travel. So here is a summary of the remaining steps of the process:
- Receive LOA
- Send I-800 application to USCIS (asking US immigration for permission to adopt the child we were specifically matched with)
- USCIS forwards our approval to the National Visa Center to petition for baby girl's visa
- The NVC forwards the approved visa petition to the US Consulate in Guangzhou China
- The Consulate reviews the visa application (the DS-230), makes sure it meets the qualifications for an immigrant visa, and then signs off that everything is in order for the adoption to be completed.
- The approval is forwarded to the CCCWA, which issues our Travel Approval!
"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14
March 4, 2012
Unexpected Kindness from Complete Strangers
We (well, mostly Heather) have been actively following adoption blogs and online forums. Connections have been made with others that have recently completed or are in the process of an adoption from China. We received an unexpected surprise over the past couple of days from not one, but two families that travelled to China last month. They picked up their children from our same orphanage and got to check on baby sister!
These families were kind enough to take the time to take pictures of our baby! We're so very thankful for this. Baby girl had these visitors within a day of each other, just before her first birthday. We were told that the nannies seemed very attentive to the children and seemed to care for all of them very much. It sounds like the conditions of the facility are sparse, but clean. We learned that baby's crib is located near the play area and the main entrance, so we can only imagine our little girl welcoming every person that walks through that door. :-)
These families were kind enough to take the time to take pictures of our baby! We're so very thankful for this. Baby girl had these visitors within a day of each other, just before her first birthday. We were told that the nannies seemed very attentive to the children and seemed to care for all of them very much. It sounds like the conditions of the facility are sparse, but clean. We learned that baby's crib is located near the play area and the main entrance, so we can only imagine our little girl welcoming every person that walks through that door. :-)
Enough talk, on to the new pics!
Feb 16, 2012:
Feb 15, 2012 (is that a semi-smile in the 2nd picture??):
Feb 16, 2012:
February 22, 2012
Happy Birthday, Little One
Tomorrow is February 23. It's killing us inside because it will be our little girl's very first birthday and she's not here with us to celebrate. One thing that's making it somewhat bearable is that we received a huge surprise from our agency today: new pictures and an update from China!
We were informed that baby girl now weighs about 20 pounds, has seven teeth, and is walking. They say she likes to play with toys and with the other children, but that she isn't much of a talker yet (we're sure that will change after living in this household for about 10 minutes). The report says that "everyone there thinks she's a smart little baby."
Our other kiddos obviously enjoyed looking at baby's new pictures earlier today, as evidenced by their slobber, handprints, & sticky globs all over this laptop screen. We're proud to share these new pictures with all of you.
God, please let our paperwork make it through the system faster than we could ever imagine. We want to bring this little one home! Happy Birthday to our wonderful little daughter!
Oh, and since we've already been asked: No, we don't know what's up with the vest. :-)
We were informed that baby girl now weighs about 20 pounds, has seven teeth, and is walking. They say she likes to play with toys and with the other children, but that she isn't much of a talker yet (we're sure that will change after living in this household for about 10 minutes). The report says that "everyone there thinks she's a smart little baby."
Our other kiddos obviously enjoyed looking at baby's new pictures earlier today, as evidenced by their slobber, handprints, & sticky globs all over this laptop screen. We're proud to share these new pictures with all of you.
God, please let our paperwork make it through the system faster than we could ever imagine. We want to bring this little one home! Happy Birthday to our wonderful little daughter!
Oh, and since we've already been asked: No, we don't know what's up with the vest. :-)
January 31, 2012
Provisional Approval & Pictures!
Great news! We were just informed that China granted us our Provisional Approval (PA) on January 29. That means they accepted our LOI for our little girl. That also means things are officially semi-officially-official, and we can share pictures publicly.
When we received our little girl's referral package, there were three pictures included. These were from the November 2011 timeframe, so she was about nine months old. We don't have much more to share at this point, so enjoy the pictures of this beautiful little one.
When we received our little girl's referral package, there were three pictures included. These were from the November 2011 timeframe, so she was about nine months old. We don't have much more to share at this point, so enjoy the pictures of this beautiful little one.
January 22, 2012
Surprise!
Well, life sure does bring big surprises from time to time. Remember that first prayer request from our last blog post? The one asking that a match would happen sooner than we expected? Yeah, that one. We're humbled and blessed to report that this prayer has been answered!
On January 17, only six days after being logged in with China, we received a child referral from our adoption agency. We had 24 hours to review her file, and on January 18 we officially submitted our Letter of Intent (LOI) to the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) . This means a new little girl is in the final stages of becoming a member of our family! She was born in February 2011, so she's only 11 months old. We'll share pictures once we receive our Provisional Approval (PA) from China, which may be as early as next week.
Because everyone knows that we are adopting through China's special needs program, we know we'll get asked what condition she has. This does not define who she is as a person, so all we'll share is that she is a hereditary carrier of a genetic condition. Because she's only a carrier, it doesn't cause any symptoms. This is the only reason she was placed on the special needs list.
On January 17, only six days after being logged in with China, we received a child referral from our adoption agency. We had 24 hours to review her file, and on January 18 we officially submitted our Letter of Intent (LOI) to the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) . This means a new little girl is in the final stages of becoming a member of our family! She was born in February 2011, so she's only 11 months old. We'll share pictures once we receive our Provisional Approval (PA) from China, which may be as early as next week.
Because everyone knows that we are adopting through China's special needs program, we know we'll get asked what condition she has. This does not define who she is as a person, so all we'll share is that she is a hereditary carrier of a genetic condition. Because she's only a carrier, it doesn't cause any symptoms. This is the only reason she was placed on the special needs list.
So, next steps... Now we must wait to receive a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from China, followed by a final request to the USCIS to bring our daughter home. More paperwork ensues, and long story short, a bunch of documents will eventually be sent to the US Consulate in Guangzou for processing. Once the US Consulate completes their tasks, they will notify the CCCWA, and they will grant our travel approval.
Given recent wait times for other adoptions, it looks like we'll be traveling to China to get our daughter in the summer of 2012. The time cannot come soon enough!!!
Our prayer request is that all of the remaining tasks & paperwork outside of our control will be completed quickly. Pray also for patience, as the wait is even more difficult now that we've seen this wonderful little face. Ella and Myles can't wait to introduce you all to their little sister!
January 16, 2012
One Step Closer!
After several weeks with no news to report, we're happy to say that our dossier has officially arrived in China! All those months of compiling and certifying paperwork came to a close in December, and our agency found no errors, praise God! The dossier was mailed on January 6, and we received confirmation that we are "logged in" with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) as of January 11. This is a huge milestone!
Next step: We will be matched by our adoption agency through China’s monthly release of special needs children when they find a child matching our profile. This process could take anywhere from one to several months. Once the match has been initiated, we'll be notified within 24 hours. Within the next day the child's information will be compiled and shipped to us overnight. We then have to review all the information and sign a letter of acceptance. And then more waiting begins: waiting for one final USCIS approval; waiting for an appointment to be scheduled in China through the US Consulate; waiting for our travel approval. After all that, we'll have two to three weeks' notice to prepare for our departure to China. The adoption will be finalized in China, so this child will have a forever family before we even get on the plane home!
It's both amazing and heart-wrenching to know that our little girl is already born and out there just waiting for us! Your continued prayers are very much desired:
- Pray that our child match occurs even sooner than we could have expected.
- Pray for the safety and health of our little girl. Because we're in the special needs program she will have some correctable medical condition, but we won't know if it's cleft lip, a heart defect, or something else until the match is made. Pray in advance that the surgery (or surgeries) she will have to go through will be as minor and uneventful as possible.
- Pray for wisdom and discernment when we do finally receive a file to review. Pray that it will be completely clear whether or not she is the child God has planned for us and that we will feel confident in the decision.
Next step: We will be matched by our adoption agency through China’s monthly release of special needs children when they find a child matching our profile. This process could take anywhere from one to several months. Once the match has been initiated, we'll be notified within 24 hours. Within the next day the child's information will be compiled and shipped to us overnight. We then have to review all the information and sign a letter of acceptance. And then more waiting begins: waiting for one final USCIS approval; waiting for an appointment to be scheduled in China through the US Consulate; waiting for our travel approval. After all that, we'll have two to three weeks' notice to prepare for our departure to China. The adoption will be finalized in China, so this child will have a forever family before we even get on the plane home!
It's both amazing and heart-wrenching to know that our little girl is already born and out there just waiting for us! Your continued prayers are very much desired:
- Pray that our child match occurs even sooner than we could have expected.
- Pray for the safety and health of our little girl. Because we're in the special needs program she will have some correctable medical condition, but we won't know if it's cleft lip, a heart defect, or something else until the match is made. Pray in advance that the surgery (or surgeries) she will have to go through will be as minor and uneventful as possible.
- Pray for wisdom and discernment when we do finally receive a file to review. Pray that it will be completely clear whether or not she is the child God has planned for us and that we will feel confident in the decision.
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