"What happens next?" you might ask. Well...it is a heap of paperwork, also know as The Paper Chase. We are just starting it, but from what I can tell it will make our co-op board application look like a walk in the park (gulp!).
The international adoption process unfolds something like this (culminating milestones in parentheses):
1. Research and Pray (select country, placement agency, and homestudy agency)
2. The Paper Chase (completed dossier sent to Ethiopia)
3. On the Waitlist (referral of a child/children)
4. Court Dates (returning to the United States with your child)
Where are we in this process?
Almost done with #1 (we've researched and prayed, selected a placement agency, and are well on our way to selecting a home study agency) and we've started #2.
We are working on the long form application, legal policy documents to sign with the agency (these docs basically say that you understand there are risks associated with international adoption. Laws change, countries change, wars happen, orphanages close, orphanages open...you get the point...bottom line, it's not like a perfect child clothed in sunshine and roses is going to drop into your lap within the next 2 weeks:-)
The policy docs and long application take about 1-2 weeks to complete (they include many pages of paperwork and legalese, a thorough autobiography, and they need to be signed an notarized in about 20 places--literally!) then need to be sent back to the agency with our first big check.
But, they are just the amuse bouche for the real deal...creation of our DOSSIER. We'll get the directions for that after the policy docs are sent back to the agency and accepted, but basically the dossier takes anywhere from 2-6 months to complete--average is about 3 months--and the variability is largely due to waiting for certified copies and government acceptance of a whole bunch of documents. By all accounts creation of the dossier is not very fun, and proves the truth of every negative view of government inefficiency, red tape, and bureaucracy.
When the dossier is complete and accepted by our agency it means the US government thinks we are fit to parent a child and supports us bringing an adopted child back to the US as a citizen. The dossier is translated in Amharic (one of the main languages of Ethiopia) and sent to Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) where the Ethiopian government then decides if we are fit to parent a child. While our dossier is jet-setting around the globe, we will be added to the WAITLIST!
The waitlist is when we start officially waiting for our child. Currently, our agency has wait times of about 4-8 months for a toddler (24 months and older) and 12-18 months for an infant (24 months or younger). Sibling groups have a variable wait time b/c there is so much variety in what parents are willing to undertake. Also, boys over 4-5 and girls over 6-7 tend to be considered "old" by adoptive parents and end up on a waiting child list. There is not typically a wait time for these children. They are already waiting for you!
Once we are matched with a child (either through referral or through selection of a waiting child) then we begin the court process. It takes about 6-12 weeks to get the first court date (where we become the legal parents of the child as for as Ethiopia is concerned) and then another 6-12 weeks to get an Embassy date where the US Embassy issues the child's visa so they can enter the US. Adoptive parents have to be present at both court dates. There is the option to stay between the two visits to parent your child/children; but you are on your own for that, so many families choose to return to the US in between. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it:-)
The first trip to Ethiopia (for court) is short, only about 4-5 days, the second trip is longer, about 7-10 days. Many families choose to spend some time during the trips becoming familiar with and getting to experience their child's culture. Ethiopia will always be meaningful to children adopted from Ethiopia and to their new families so these trips are a wonderful opportunity to take in as much as possible about the country and culture.
After the embassy trip we will make the long flight home with our new child/children and begin the special and unique process of becoming a family (more on attachment, bonding, and other such things in much later posts).
