Yess. We are finally in translation, a process in which our dossier in China is being translated in Chinese. This apparently takes a few months. Once through we go into "pending review" which will be several months — they are now reviewing June 2006 dossiers, so we will have a long wait for that one.
Keep us in prayer.
Kevin and Violet
Monday, July 16, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Bracelets for our child
These are the bracelets we chose to wear from our LID (log in date) with the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA). We will wear them until we receive our little one.
Why international adoption?
Just this past month I got my first real negative comment about China adoption, although I'm sure the woman had the best of intentions.
So I thought I'd share about why we chose international adoption. First, we didn't just jump into this. We went through some traditional routes before we settled on Department of Human Services in Oklahoma, where we sat and waited for nearly three years.
Maybe we were too picky, maybe our social workers were just burned out (we're on our fourth) or maybe it just wasn't meant to be. We went through a course that taught us how to restrain our child (albeit they said we probably would never use it) and that definitely wasn't what we were looking for in a family.
Domestic adoption was quoted at about $30,000 upfront, money we just don't have. And while I admit we didn't look further into that realm (opting to try DHS) we were not comfortable with the U.S. court system's lack of precedent when it comes to standing up for the adoptive parent.
All of these may seem obstacles easily overcome by those who do not understand adopting internationally when there are so many children here in the United States, and I will admit that even we did not at one time in our long journey see ourselves on this pathway. However, from the minute we left the China adoption seminar we knew this was our destiny for our family. And all the struggles and stress with the long wait for referral (which has stretched up to two years and is expected to go beyond) has not changed that at all.
We are able to pay for our adoption costs as the expenses come up, and so far that means we have been able to save all the money we have needed (it's very important to us to not go into debt.)
In China, it is illegal to abandon a child, and after a certain waiting period when no one identifies the child ( through newspaper advertisements) then the child legally is declared an orphan, and no one will contest the adoption in the future.
Reading the history of China shows a need for a home for these children (most are girls, but there also are male orphans).
But we aren't looking to save the world. We're only looking for a family.
I hope this helps.
Violet
So I thought I'd share about why we chose international adoption. First, we didn't just jump into this. We went through some traditional routes before we settled on Department of Human Services in Oklahoma, where we sat and waited for nearly three years.
Maybe we were too picky, maybe our social workers were just burned out (we're on our fourth) or maybe it just wasn't meant to be. We went through a course that taught us how to restrain our child (albeit they said we probably would never use it) and that definitely wasn't what we were looking for in a family.
Domestic adoption was quoted at about $30,000 upfront, money we just don't have. And while I admit we didn't look further into that realm (opting to try DHS) we were not comfortable with the U.S. court system's lack of precedent when it comes to standing up for the adoptive parent.
All of these may seem obstacles easily overcome by those who do not understand adopting internationally when there are so many children here in the United States, and I will admit that even we did not at one time in our long journey see ourselves on this pathway. However, from the minute we left the China adoption seminar we knew this was our destiny for our family. And all the struggles and stress with the long wait for referral (which has stretched up to two years and is expected to go beyond) has not changed that at all.
We are able to pay for our adoption costs as the expenses come up, and so far that means we have been able to save all the money we have needed (it's very important to us to not go into debt.)
In China, it is illegal to abandon a child, and after a certain waiting period when no one identifies the child ( through newspaper advertisements) then the child legally is declared an orphan, and no one will contest the adoption in the future.
Reading the history of China shows a need for a home for these children (most are girls, but there also are male orphans).
But we aren't looking to save the world. We're only looking for a family.
I hope this helps.
Violet
Another month goes by
Well, another month has passed, with only seven days of referrals in July. Those with Log In Dates (LID) of Nov. 7-14, 2005, were able to see their precious babies late last week and early this week.
That puts the wait time at around 20 months. It is expected to increase. We can only hope time flies by, and, yet, you hate to see it go so quickly to.
China adoption is all about hurry, hurry, hurry and then hope for time to slow once you have your family.
That puts the wait time at around 20 months. It is expected to increase. We can only hope time flies by, and, yet, you hate to see it go so quickly to.
China adoption is all about hurry, hurry, hurry and then hope for time to slow once you have your family.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Someone wake me when we get to China ...
That's what I actually considered for our blog name, but I didn't want our little one to see it and feel hurt in the future. The referrals for June 2007 were for Nov. 1-7, 2005, (yes, that is 2005!!). Only seven days. That's looking like three to four years for us, and that's the optimistic outlook! The waiting is not really the hard part, believe it or not, it's the not knowing what's going to happen in the multiple years that is so hard. We've been waiting so long, and it seems every turn we make toward our family is the wrong one. So as Kevin is usually the driver, and I'm the navigator, I'm going to fold the map, put it away and sleep this one out.
Someone wake me when we get to China ...
Someone wake me when we get to China ...
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Here's our little girl's name
We came up with the name of our daughter pretty quick. We both liked "Emily," and we're going to love calling her Em, Emmie, Emma — we love nicknames, can you tell? :)
This is a cool Web site to go to and see if you can find the Chinese characters for your name:
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/name/blname.htm
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Two months down ...
Today is the second month anniversary of being LID (log-in date of our adoption dossier with China)!!
As Kevin said earlier, only 24 more months to go :) and I replied we'll still be saying that this time next year!
Really, though, the wait time right now is approaching 19 months, I believe, and I know it is at 18 months for sure. Some speculate the wait will go up to 3 years and beyond. We only can hope the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) will speed up the number of referrals. It used to be a month or referrals at a time every month. Now it is only a few days every month. That are backed up to November 2005, and several people speculate it will take 5 months or more to get through the referrals of the LIDs that month alone (apparently it was a big month).
So, pull up a chair and get comfortable. We'll be here awhile. :)
As Kevin said earlier, only 24 more months to go :) and I replied we'll still be saying that this time next year!
Really, though, the wait time right now is approaching 19 months, I believe, and I know it is at 18 months for sure. Some speculate the wait will go up to 3 years and beyond. We only can hope the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) will speed up the number of referrals. It used to be a month or referrals at a time every month. Now it is only a few days every month. That are backed up to November 2005, and several people speculate it will take 5 months or more to get through the referrals of the LIDs that month alone (apparently it was a big month).
So, pull up a chair and get comfortable. We'll be here awhile. :)
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