Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Article 5

We learned yesterday that our Article 5 was issued.  What this basically means is that the U.S. Counsulate in Guangzhou notified the CCAA that we now are able to bring Eliana into the U.S.  This clears the way for CCAA to issue our TA which is our official invitation to travel to China and bring her home.  We should be getting this TA in a few weeks and once in hand we'll be able to make our travel plans!

When we travel to China will depend on when we can get our embassy appointment in Guangzhou to get her U.S. passport and visa.  As this date can vary quite a bit we can have anywhere from 5 days to 5 weeks notice before we travel.  So, we're now busy making travel preperations and finishing her room (a little more painting before her furniture is delivered on 12/29) her room! 

We're very excited!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

I-800 Approved!

Today, as I was working in Eliana's room and saw the mailman deliver our mail  I had a good feeling.  So, I went outside and got the mail and sure enough there was mail from the DHS.  It was our I-800/I-800A approvals, a major step towards bringing Eliana home!

These approvals essentailly give us permission to bring Eliana into the U.S. and are the first steps towards obtaining her citizenship.  Next we have to submit these approvals and some other paperwork to China to get our official travel invitation.  Once we get that we can finally make our travel plans to bring her home.  Now we just have to wait for one more document (a formality now that we have the I-800 approvals) before we can send this next paperwork submission!

We're getting closer!  Good thing we bought the paint for her room today, she'll be home soon!

Monday, October 4, 2010

How it all went down

Today we received news of our "official" match with our daughter!  Read on to find out how it all went down!

Beth had a feeling for the past few months that September was going to be our month. Given her track record on being right with her feelings, Howard was pretty optimistic as well. But she was getting nervous so about a week ago she contacted our social worker to "see where things stood". Our social worker, "D", inquired with our agency China Team as to where we were. They had a few follow-up questions for us on the scope of the special needs we were open to and gave us a general idea of where we stood. Based on what they told us, it was starting to look less likely that we would be matched in September but still likely to happen within next few months. Regardless, we still held out some hope for September.

The morning of September 20 arrived and since Beth religously checks all the discussion boards concerning China adoption we knew that a new special needs list was coming out on this day. It was also our understanding that if matched families are usually called between 8 and 10am. So, we were cautiously optimistic and maybe a bit anxious that morning. So, we begin our days as normal going to work. 9am - no phone call, 10am-no phone call, 11am - no phone call. By this point we figured it just wasn't going to be our month and the dejection sets in. At noon no longer expecting a phone call, Howard leaves the office to run a few errands. At approximately 12:04pm EDT, Beth's cell phone rings. She looks at the number displayed on the caller ID. It's our social worker's number.

The call went something like this:
Beth : "Helllllo?"
SW: "Hi Beth! It's D"
Beth: "Hi!."
SW: "Are you sitting down"
Beth:"Yes, and I am crying already!"
SW: "J just called and you have been matched with a beautiful daughter from China"

We have a daughter. She's about 26 months old and is from Shanghai, China. Aside from a minor heart condition that's already healed and being a little small, she's very healthy.

After composing herself, Beth tries to call Howard. She tries his cell, no answer. She tries his work number, no answer. She sends a frantic text message saying Debby called, call her ASAP! Howard finally looks at his phone as he's leaving the BB&T Bank on I and 16th streets in DC. As he's walking down I street towards 15th he calls her back and receives the good news.

The craziness has begun.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Our Wait is Over!

We can't go into much detail but today we got a call from our adoption agency informing us that we got matched today with a beautiful little girl!  More details coming in the near future as things become more official but guess what we're doing next?


We're going to Disney World!

Seriously!


Stay tuned!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Sonogram Picture?

We got our first songram picture:


She's gotta be in there somewhere, right?
















OK, so obviously we're joking about the picture.  Another month has gone by and no special needs referral so we need to pass the time.  However, from what we can gather we're not that far away from a special needs referral so there is a good chance that our daughter has been born and is out there somewhere.  It's just a matter of where and when we'll be connected.


Now for the update.

As of 5/13/2010 here's our "non special needs" wait statistics:

Referred through: 5/15/2006
Current wait: 51 months
Projected referral date: 7/13/2013
Projected months remaining to referral: 37

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Happy Anniversary to Us!

As we celebrate one decade of marriage today we got some good news from China! Rumor has it that the review room status has been changed to July 31, 2009. Of course with our LID being 5/13/09 that means our dossier is through review!! That means our dossier has essentially been approved by the CCAA without any questions.

This approval brings us one step closer to Baby China Girl and means faster time to travel once we receive a special needs referral.

Obviously since we posted a status update yesterday (2 posts in a row, crazy!) there is nothing new on that end.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

How it'll work

As we move closer to receiving a (special needs) referral we'd thought it would be helpful to let everyone know how the process will generally work and when and how we'll tell everyone.

When we finally do receive a referral we will get a call from our agency followed by an email with a picture and some basic information about the child. At that point we'll have less than 48 hours to make a preliminary decision. After looking over the information we will immediately send the information to our pediatrician for review. We will then discuss everything we know about the child's medical history and what it all means with the pediatrician, our social worker and between ourselves. At that point and only at that point, if we decide to accept (on a preliminary basis) the referral we will begin to inform family and friends of the referral. We will not be sharing any details (or pictures) of the referral on this blog due to privacy concerns. We will only announce that we have accepted a referral. Our intention is to share the details (and pictures!) with family and friends via email and possibly via Facebook (to a lesser extent). So, if you want the details make sure we know that and that we have your email address. We'll probably create a special email distribution list.

After we accept the referral there is more that needs to happen. We won't bore you with all the details but essentially we next have to make a formal request to the CCAA to be matched with the child and then they have to accept that request (part of the reason we cannot post any details online). We also have to make travel arrangements, apply for travel visas and her U.S. Citizenship, complete various other paperwork not to mention getting her room ready as well as a preliminary wardrobe (Beth can't wait for this part). It could take up to 6 months from when we receive the referral to when we travel to China but at least we'll know who she is!


Now for the update.

As of 6/13/2010 here's our "non special needs" wait statistics:

Referred through: 4/26/2006
Current wait: 50 months
Projected referral date: 6/13/2013
Projected months remaining to referral: 37

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Chinese for dinner and some encouraging news!

In "celebration" of the one year anniversay of our login date we will be having Chinese for dinner tonight. This will become a yearly tradition, but hopefully next year will include one more member of our family. Speaking of which, we are currently in the process of updating our I-800a which is the approval form by INS to bring a foreign adopted child into the country. This approval only lasts 18 months so it has to be renewed every 18 months. Part of this process is to update our homestudy which is done by our social worker. So, in meeting with her just recently she said she would be very surprised if we had to do this again. Translation: we should get a special needs referral within the next 18 months! It might even happen sooner (maybe within the next 12 months) as our agency has matched many families with special needs children over the past few months. This is encouraging as the non special needs wait gets longer and longer. We'll just have to wait and see.


Now for the update.

As of 5/13/2010 here's our "non special needs" wait statistics:

Referred through: 4/21/2006
Current wait: 49 months
Projected referral date: 5/13/2013
Projected months remaining to referral: 36

Monday, April 26, 2010

Our Adoption Journey Post #3: Why China?

We've already discussed why we chose international adoption, but why did we choose China? There are a few reasons why we picked China over other countries such as Russia and Ethiopia. These reasons include: the established adoption process in China, a higher level of prenatal health in China, and China's rich history and culture.

The adoption process is China is fairly standardized and relatively transparent. By this we mean that you know how the process is generally going to work and what to expect from beginning to end. An important aspect of this is that when you get a referral you can be certain that the information provided to you by the orphanage on the child although limited is fairly accurate. They're not going to mislead you. This is not true in all countries. The recent incident involving a Tennessee mother and adopted Russian boy highlights this issue.

To briefly summarize this incident; this mother adopted a 7 year boy from Russia who turned out to have severe psychological issues that the orphanage did not fully disclose. This mother deciding that she couldn't parent this child response was to send the child back to Russia on a plane by himself. First, let us say the mother was absolutely wrong in doing this and should be criminally charged. It is understandable that she could not parent this child, but to do what she did was cruel, selfish, and irresponsible. There were other options she could have chosen that she didn't even bother to explore. That being said, this illustrates some of the risks with adopting from Russia. It is true that Russian orphanages are not always honest in the information they disclose about the children in their care. There is also a fair amount of "donations" that one must pay to adopt a child from Russia. Often a family does not know the amount or number of these "donations" until they get to Russia. In contrast, for China you know ahead of time that you will have to make one donation to the orphanage and how much it is expected to be for.

Another reason we chose China is because of the high level of prenatal care in China. Since most birth mothers do not plan to give up their children until after they have them (that's a whole different topic) they take good care of themselves. There are few problems with drug and alcohol abuse. In contrast, in countries such as Russia there is a high level of prenatal alcohol syndrome among other health problems.

Another aspect of China that's always intrigued us is its rich history and culture. From Chinese New Year to the ancient Chinese dynasties to the Moon Festival, China is a very fascinating country. It has a long storied history and many unique cultural events and related effects. We look forward to sharing all this with our future daughter.

We realize in this post we do highlight alot of problems Russian adoption. We do this not to scare people or criticize families who have adopted from Russia (except the one mentioned earlier) but to highlight why we did not choose Russia for ourselves. We often get asked why we did not pick Russia and often they are really asking why didn't you adopt from a country where the child is going to look like you. For us it does not matter that our future daughter will not share our physical characteristics. Actually, it might even be a good thing. Every family has to make the choices that are best for them and China is best for us.


Now for the update.

As of 4/13/2010 here's our "non special needs" wait statistics:

Referred through: 4/17/2006
Current wait: 48 months
Projected referral date: 4/13/2013
Projected months remaining to referral: 36

Thursday, April 1, 2010

In the Review Room!

Based on recent portal updates on the CCAA website they have now reviewed dossiers logged in through April 2009. Since our dossier was logged in May 2009, this means that they are reviewing ours as we write this. This is the step in the process where CCAA reviews all of our paperwork and approves, rejects, or asks questions concerning our dossier. While getting approved through the review room does not get us any closer to a referral it is an important step in the overall process. So far, we have not been informed of any questions they might have so cross your fingers! In this situation no news is good news. Once they announce that dossiers have been reviewed through the end of May 2009 (or later) we'll know that we're through!



On another note, The Washington Post recently published an interesting article on special needs adoption from China. This is something we can very much relate to and if you're interested you can click here.



Finally, we'll save the wait update for our next post but I wanted to mention that Congress did extend the Adoption Tax Credit (see our last post) for another year. It was included in the recent health care legislation. It doesn't go as far as making the credit permament as we would have liked to see but does keep it going for the time being. Rest assured, next year when it's up for renewal again we'll have another post on the issue.

Nothing new on the wait, will update the stats with the next post.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Federal Adoption Tax Credit

The adoption tax credit went into effect in 1997 as part of the 1996 Small Business Jobs Protection Act. It was due to expire in 2001 but was extended as part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 which also upped the credit from $5,000 to $10,000. However, this credit is due to expire on December 31, 2010 unless Congress takes action.

As you all know adoption is very expensive. I won't go into specifics but the cost is far more than the $10,000 credit. This tax credit helps make a significant financial burden a little bit easier not just for us but for other adoptive families as well.

There are several bipartisan proposals that have been introduced in both the House and Senate that will extend this tax credit. S 2816 and HR 213 introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jim Bunning and Sen. Ben Nelson and in the House by Rep. Joe Wilson, would make the tax credits permanent and expand the current credit. Please write your Senators and Representatives to urge them to vote for these proposals. Click on the widget below to be taken to a website that will direct you to your Representative.

Click here for more information on the Federal Adoption Tax Credit courtesy of the National Council for Adoption.







Now for the update.

As of 3/11/2010 here's our "non special needs" wait statistics:

Referred through: 4/11/2006
Current wait: 47 months
Projected referral date: 4/13/2013
Projected months remaining to referral: 37


Remember, these are simple projections based on extrapolating the current wait forward. Check out the Rumor Queen (link at top) for more thorough projections.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

No adoption news but lots of snow!

No news on the adoption front this month but boy did we get snow! First, we got hit with Snowmageddon and a whopping 38 inches of snow. Our town of Elkridge, MD seems to have been the epicenter of this first storm as we made the national news! All we can say is that 38 inches is a lot of snow to shovel.

You might have noticed that I said first storm in the above paragraph. That's because we got a second storm a few days later! Another 12 inches of snow and nowhere to put it.

See pictures below of our house and street! Update follows.





























Now for the update.

As of 2/13/2010 here's our "non special needs" wait statistics:

Referred through: 4/5/2006
Current wait: 46 months
Projected referral date: 3/13/2013
Projected months remaining to referral: 37


Remember, these are simple projections based on extrapolating the current wait forward. Check out the Rumor Queen (link at top) for more thorough projections

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Changing Direction

As we began our adoption journey we have always been interested in adopting a child with special needs. This past month we decided it was time to submit the required paperwork to adopt a child with special needs or as our agency more fondly calls it, Children of Promise (COP). Of course this begs the questions of why we decided to go down this path, what special needs are we considering, and how does this affect the timeline? We'll do our best to answer all these questions in this post.

As our boys grown older we feel our hearts have been led down the path to adopting a child with special placement needs. With so many resources available to us because of where we live and what Beth does for a living, we feel we're in position to offer a child with special needs a home and environment where all their needs can be properly addressed and they can be loved and supported. We also feel that it is selfish for us to wait and wait for a "non-special needs" child when there are so many COP's out there waiting to be adopted. We're in a position to offer them so much.

However, being that we already have 2 children (with their own issues) we realize there are limitations as to how much we can take on. For that reason, we are only able to consider children with minor physical conditions. This would include such conditions as a minor heart condition, extra or missing digits, or asthma to name a few. We also want to ensure that our daughter (we still only want a girl) is at least one grade level behind our youngest so we are only considering girls born after September 1, 2008.

What does this mean for our wait? Matching children with special needs is done a little differently than for non special needs. The actual matching is done by the adoption agency rather than the CCAA and the primary thing they look at what family is the best fit for a particular child. The main difference is that while the LID is taken into consideration it is not the most important factor so families can jump ahead of other families if they are a better match for that child. What this means for us is that the wait could be considerably shorter although not necessarily so. We could still get matched with a non special needs child if our turn comes up on that list before we are matched from the COP list. However, with what's been going on, this is highely unlikely.

As for the updates, we will continue to provide them but bear in mind they are for the non special needs list. We have no way of projecting a wait for the COP list.

Now for the update.

As of 1/13 here's our "non special needs" wait statistics:


Referred through: 4/3/2006

Current wait: 45 months

Projected referral date: 2/13/2013

Projected months remaining to referral: 37




Remember, these are simple projections based on extrapolating the current wait forward. Check out the Rumor Queen (link at top) for more thorough projections