February Update

Ever since God changed what we thought was the adoption plan, things have actually been a little slower than I anticipated.  This has been a good thing because lately I feel like our family life has been going at a much faster pace than we are accustomed...and I am pretty sure that I am way more tired than usual. 

We had to have our home study updated and finalized to reflect the change from Ethiopia to India.  Once that was completed we were able to file with India.  In the most simple explanation I can give, we are basically telling India that we plan to adopt a child. 

Now that we have registered with India, we are officially on the waiting list with our agency.  There are less than 10 families waiting for a referral with our agency.  A numbered waiting list really does not apply to us because most adoptions with India are "special needs" and it depends upon the severity of the need you are willing to accept.  We are open to minor, correctable special needs or special needs that do not require significant care.  We have no idea how long we will be waiting for a referral.  It could be one month, it could be 12.  You just never know.

In the waiting period we will be working on our dossier (the set of documents that basically contains every detail of your life that goes to the US and Indian governments).  We also need to re-file with USCIS (United States Customs and Immigration Services) to get approval for adopting a child from India.  We were approved to adopt from Ethiopia, and now we will have to go through the approval and fingerprinting processes once more for India.

It has been such a blessing to see God continually working in this process.  I cannot tell you how thankful we are to see pieces coming together and the monetary amount we need to complete the adoption get smaller and smaller.  We have been so humbled by gifts from from friends and family members. 

I will continue to update as we move along the process!