Everything in life is change

We are changing agencies before we even send in our application. After much research, and some advice from been-there-done-that families, we are switching to Chinese Children Adoption International CCAI in Colorado.

The baby we have kind of fallen for is on their SN list, but, the real reason is that we have become convinced by so much research and the references provided by so many families, that we just have to walk in faith that this is the right choice.

The costs are much less than AAI, and we can still save money by preparing our dossier on our own, which doesn't scare me. I know just how to do this, and CCAI provides a dossier guide to help us.

The Homestudy and beginning paperwork

I have recieved the certified birth certificates for me from Maryland, and have printed out the order form for Tim's from Minnesota. I will have to call Kensington, Maryland to order our marriage certificate since it is prior to 1993. I will be getting the police clearance letters done next week, and then the financial statement. We will need to have our medical clearances done. Will need to schedule those appointments next month. I have talked to Tom Baxter, and he has all our paperwork from last time, but, China will require most of the documentation be current, so, he really can only use the stuff that hasn't changed for our homestudy. We both make more money then we did two years ago, and we moved into a bigger house last year. We are just now selling our old house, that closes next week. Katie and James will both be out on their own, James already lives in his own place in Orem, and Katie will be moving out by end of December, so neither of them will be part of the paperwork.

That just leaves us with three kids at home, which makes us better candidates anyway, and there is less paperwork involved than there was last time with having James, over 18, living with us. We had to have him go through a physical exam, and he was going to have to submit fingerprints to USCIS for a background check, since he was an adult that was living in the home.

So, now I will be scheduling the physicals, and then afterwards, the homestudy. Once they are complete, we can apply to USCIS for an I800A appointment, and then go over to the sattelite office for fingerprints once our interview is complete. They will give us the fingerprint form to take with us. Once that is done, we wait for the approval in the mail.

The financial statement will need to be copied for Tom, and the original sent to be state certified, and then batched with the other docs to be authenticated.

The medicals, criminal clearances, employment letters, letter of interest, birth certificates, marriage certificate, and homestudy, will be batched and sent to my courier for authentications in DC. Then they will be forwarded, along with the passport photos, family life photos, copies of our passport photo pages, to AAI. Once the I800A arrives, it will be sent to AAI as the final document for our dossier. I will have to check to see if that needs to be authenticated, I believe it does, but, can't remember off the top of my head.

Now I find out that as part of the new requirements from the Hague treaty, the USCIS will require background checks for every state we have lived in since we were 18, which is a no brainer for me since I lived in Minnesota when I turned 18, and then moved to Utah and have lived here ever since, but, Tim lived in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Utah, which adds a state to our paperwork. Ugh.

We have made a decision on an agency

We are going to apply with Adoption Advocates International in Port Angeles Washington. They have both NSN and SN programs, and we can switch from NSN to SN if we find a child on the SN list before we get a referral from the NSN program. The great thing about their SN program is that they are on the shared agency list and have their own private agency list, so we have many more children to search.

They will also allow me to do as much of the dossier paperwork as I want, which is pretty much all of it. I know how to put together a dossier, and, I have some great dossier resources, like a courier that works in DC, which is where most of our docs have to go.

We can save time and money by doing most of it ourselves.

I found a precious little girl on another agency's shared list. If we are paper ready and her file has not been locked by another family, we will look into pursuing adopting her. That is a long way down the road though, and there are a lot of other families ahead of us in line to review her file. Her SN is one that would scare a lot of families away that are looking for something that is an absolutely non-special need issue. In other words, something that doesn't have any effect on the child, but, is more of a cosmetic issue. I am not afraid of what I have read, based on what I know from past experience with a similar issue with one of my other children, but, will need to review the file more closely if we get that opportunity down the road before I make a decision.

Search is almost over

We have narrowed the agency search down to two, Adoption Advocates International (AAI) and Wasatch International Adoption Agency(WIAA). AAI was recommended by a friend that just came home with her little one from China, and WIAA is local, and our social worker is contracted with them.

If we go with AAI, we will need to have him sign an agreement with them, but, he knows that drill pretty well.

The pros of AAI are that they will accept Tim's age for NSN, which WIAA said they would as well, except for one hitch. WIAA does not have an SN program to switch to if NSN for whatever reason ends up not being the right path for us, and AAI does have an SN program. In an email from the AAI rep, they stated they did not believe Tim's age would be a problem as long as we got our paperwork to China before he turn 51 in April of next year, but, they also made sure we knew we could switch to SN if we wanted. I just don't want to end up signing with them and find out they had no intention of advocating for NSN, and we have to go SN, when WIAA would have advocated for us.

Ugh!! what a decision.

Well, we will spend some time praying about it, and see what we decide. We have time, since we don't intend to apply to any agency until after our old house's sale closes the first week in September, and right now, we are busy getting kids started back to school.

Searching for an adoption agency

Here we go again, the search for an agency to handle our adoption. This is not an easy task, and certainly not as easy as it once was. Tim is right at the age limit for adopting a child with no special needs. We really don't think we could handle a child with a moderate to serious special need, and it wouldn't be fair to walk deliberately into that, but, we may be forced into that program simply because the agencies are mostly telling us that Tim is already aged out, as the CCAA will consider a person to be 50 already when they are just 49 and four months. So, by the time we are paper ready, he will be considered over the age limit.

Alternatively, and as I suspected, Wasatch International Adoptions is indicating that not only will be be successful if we pursue a non special needs (NSN) adoption, but, that they will accept us as NSN applicants. So, they are strong candidates as our prospective agency search continues. CCAI has basically dismissed us for anything other than their special needs (SN) program, WACAP has leaned that way as well, and I haven't even asked HFS, our previous agency, as they seem to have changed quite a bit and aren't the same agency I remembered. Since they are an out of state agency, and Texas, the state they are in, has extra requirements in the homestudy (HS) process, I don't see any additional benefit in using them for our agency when there are agencies just as good who are either in Utah (ie WIAA) or do not have the additional requirements.

So, the search continues. Currently, I have sent for info packets and am on a couple of yahoo groups that give info on agencies etc, and, I am asking around the China adoption community of parents, both currently in the process and those who have completed at least one adoption since the Hague treaty changed so much about the process and which agencies are even approved to adopt from China.

Adoption from China of our little cricket

We begin our blog with the paperchase for our second Chinese daughter, Isabella Nicole (insert chinese name here) Anderson, nicknamed Cricket.

Today is Friday, August 1, 2008.

Before we can get very far into this blog, I must prepare you that the next few months will largely be devoted to the paperwork, which may or may not interest you. If you feel the need to stick a letter opener in your eye at any point, please, step away from your computer and get some fresh air. We will still be here when you get back, and soon, the paperwork will be done.

We expect the paperchase to take anywhere from three to six months, so, sit back and relax. It's going to be a bumpy ride.