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