Hi today we got our fingerprint background check from the FBI. What a blessing. It took them 2 weeks instead of 4. I will be working on gathering photos of our family and friends for our dossier this weekend. Monday I am hoping that my doctor will sign the medical and I can get our paper work notarized and apostilled, and off to TOL on Tuesday am.
Pray that we can get this done. Update on Staci in the Ukraine: they have decided to adopt a 17 month old boy who needs surgery on his esophagus. I am soo happy that they are coming back with a little guy.
We have a number of families in our church who are also in the process of adopting. I know of 2 families adopting from Russia and another family is adopting an older child from China ( I think she is 9 yrs old and should be home in October). God is soo good. If you are interested in adopting AAI has 2 boys who need adopting now who are 4 yrs old. Have a blessed weekend.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Update on doctor appt
I had to check in with the doctor's office 48 hrs after getting my TB prick and everything looks good. The doctor's office had received all my results except for the HIV. My cholesterol was very good, happy about that. Chris didn't get to talk to the nurse about his results when he went back to get checked for his TB.
I did receive some bad news though. My doctor is on vacation this week and next. So he can't sign the paperwork until he gets back the first week of August. So much for "my" plan to get everything done and off by the end of July. God has a different plan!
I do have the social worker's license and child abuse background check in my hands so that is taken care of. We also sent a letter this week to AAI to cancel our services and Ukraine program with them. We will still use them though for our post adoption reports and any updates we need done on our home study.
Today I read of another family returning from the Ukraine without a child. It makes me so angry. They were wanting a girl, and did visit one in the orphanage after their second interview. They sent the medical info to their doctor here in the USA and decided not to adopt her. So very sad. I wish other families were seeing this and boycotting Ukraine so they would change their program to give referrals so families aren't paying thousands to go there and return home with no child. It seems very hard for me to believe there are no healthy children in the orphanages. But I also feel terrible for these children who are being left behind...I have noticed some agency's now stating under their Ukraine program guidelines that Ukraine is a good program if you are willing to be flexible in the age and health of a child or want a sibling group. So keep that in mind.
Staci and Damon are still waiting for their 2nd appt in the Ukraine. They are wanting a little boy and are open to siblings, I believe. Pray that they will find their little boy soon. This will be the beginning of their family. Until the next update,
I did receive some bad news though. My doctor is on vacation this week and next. So he can't sign the paperwork until he gets back the first week of August. So much for "my" plan to get everything done and off by the end of July. God has a different plan!
I do have the social worker's license and child abuse background check in my hands so that is taken care of. We also sent a letter this week to AAI to cancel our services and Ukraine program with them. We will still use them though for our post adoption reports and any updates we need done on our home study.
Today I read of another family returning from the Ukraine without a child. It makes me so angry. They were wanting a girl, and did visit one in the orphanage after their second interview. They sent the medical info to their doctor here in the USA and decided not to adopt her. So very sad. I wish other families were seeing this and boycotting Ukraine so they would change their program to give referrals so families aren't paying thousands to go there and return home with no child. It seems very hard for me to believe there are no healthy children in the orphanages. But I also feel terrible for these children who are being left behind...I have noticed some agency's now stating under their Ukraine program guidelines that Ukraine is a good program if you are willing to be flexible in the age and health of a child or want a sibling group. So keep that in mind.
Staci and Damon are still waiting for their 2nd appt in the Ukraine. They are wanting a little boy and are open to siblings, I believe. Pray that they will find their little boy soon. This will be the beginning of their family. Until the next update,
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Tuesday July 22
Chris had his doctor's appt today to get his blood drawn and tb prick. I am so proud of him because when we first met he did not like the sight of a needle or blood. Since we have been married he goes to the blood donation center and gives blood when ever they call him, which is often because he is type O.
Today our social worker emailed to say that by the end of the week we should have her notarized license and the other document we need. Great! Our blood work takes a week to get the results so then the only thing we are waiting for will be the FBI background check.
As you might have noticed I have added the Ukrainian blog that I have been following. Staci and her husband are there right now to get their first child, a son. I am praying for them that they do return home soon with him. There is another blog I am following, they are with the same agency we were with, but they haven't received their appt date yet so are still waiting. When they do I will add them to my favorite blog spot. I have looked for Bulgarian blogs but haven't found any,except one, they are adopting a down syndrome child from Bulgaria. Their blog is called Kenofamily adopting from Bulgaria.
When I read about families adopting special needs children it just brings tears to my eyes. Thank God for people like them to take the "really" needy children home with them, the ones that will probably never find families, and give them the love that they so need.
Today our social worker emailed to say that by the end of the week we should have her notarized license and the other document we need. Great! Our blood work takes a week to get the results so then the only thing we are waiting for will be the FBI background check.
As you might have noticed I have added the Ukrainian blog that I have been following. Staci and her husband are there right now to get their first child, a son. I am praying for them that they do return home soon with him. There is another blog I am following, they are with the same agency we were with, but they haven't received their appt date yet so are still waiting. When they do I will add them to my favorite blog spot. I have looked for Bulgarian blogs but haven't found any,except one, they are adopting a down syndrome child from Bulgaria. Their blog is called Kenofamily adopting from Bulgaria.
When I read about families adopting special needs children it just brings tears to my eyes. Thank God for people like them to take the "really" needy children home with them, the ones that will probably never find families, and give them the love that they so need.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Dr. Appt Today
Not much news as we try get all our dossier stuff together. I did have my doctor's appt this morning. I had to have blood drawn for HIV, HepB, Syphilis testing and a tb test. The office staff was so nice and understanding. They had our forms for the Ukraine so I had to give them new ones for Bulgaria. I didn't have to get tb tested for Ukraine but do for Bulgaria. They said the results of the blood work will be ready by the end of the week. Chris has his appt tomorrow at his doctor.
I am still waiting to hear back from our social worker about her license and child abuse background check she did on us for our home study. Please pray that we will have our FBI fingerprints back by July 31st so I can send our dossier off to our agency and then they send it to Bulgaria to be translated and admitted to the Ministry of Justice so we can be put "in line" to receive a referral.
The time line looks something like this:
1. Send dossier to TOL in OR
2. The send it to Bulgaria (8days to get there Fed Express)
3. The agency there translates it for us (2-4 weeks)
4. They send it to the MOJ who then approve it and put in "in line"
5. Then we wait for 9-12 mths to receive a referral.
Until next time, God bless
I am still waiting to hear back from our social worker about her license and child abuse background check she did on us for our home study. Please pray that we will have our FBI fingerprints back by July 31st so I can send our dossier off to our agency and then they send it to Bulgaria to be translated and admitted to the Ministry of Justice so we can be put "in line" to receive a referral.
The time line looks something like this:
1. Send dossier to TOL in OR
2. The send it to Bulgaria (8days to get there Fed Express)
3. The agency there translates it for us (2-4 weeks)
4. They send it to the MOJ who then approve it and put in "in line"
5. Then we wait for 9-12 mths to receive a referral.
Until next time, God bless
Friday, July 18, 2008
Friday July 18, 2008
Good morning friends and family! Yesterday we had our fingerprints redone and sent them to the FBI in Virginia. USCIS should have received our request to change countries from Ukraine to Bulgaria.
Last night AAI had a doctor talk to "waiting families" about immunizations and screening test adopted children need to have when they come to the USA. He gave us suggestions on what to take with us when we travel (meds for our children). There were a lot of families adopting from Ethiopia there, one couple was adopting from Liberia and two families were adopting from Russia/Ukraine.
The doctor has 6 children and 3 of them are adopted. We might use his office/partners as our doctor for our son when he comes home. He mentioned how orphans are a blessing from God and made in His image.
We are still waiting on our social worker from AAI to send us her license. This is pretty much what we need for Bulgaria's dossier:
1. Power of Attorney for agency in Bulgaria
2. Power of Attorney for TOL American agency
3. Letter to Ministry of Justice stating why we want to adopt, age, gender, description of our family, home, employment,etc.
4. Home study
5. Social worker's license (who did the home study)
6. Agency license (that did the home study)
7. Photo's of our family and home
8. Finger prints by FBI (background check) for both of us
9. I171 H adoption approval letter from USCIS
10. copy of our taxes
11. Medicals for both of us (blood work for HIV etc.)
12. Doctor's license
13. Marriage certificate
14. Photocopy of passports
15. Child abuse clearance for both of us (Social worker to give to us as she got it for our home study)
Will write more once we have something to report. Please keep us in your prayers as we wait to bring our son home. Pray for his safety, that he is being cared for and loved on when needed and that we will continue to seek God's will and be obedient to Him.
Last night AAI had a doctor talk to "waiting families" about immunizations and screening test adopted children need to have when they come to the USA. He gave us suggestions on what to take with us when we travel (meds for our children). There were a lot of families adopting from Ethiopia there, one couple was adopting from Liberia and two families were adopting from Russia/Ukraine.
The doctor has 6 children and 3 of them are adopted. We might use his office/partners as our doctor for our son when he comes home. He mentioned how orphans are a blessing from God and made in His image.
We are still waiting on our social worker from AAI to send us her license. This is pretty much what we need for Bulgaria's dossier:
1. Power of Attorney for agency in Bulgaria
2. Power of Attorney for TOL American agency
3. Letter to Ministry of Justice stating why we want to adopt, age, gender, description of our family, home, employment,etc.
4. Home study
5. Social worker's license (who did the home study)
6. Agency license (that did the home study)
7. Photo's of our family and home
8. Finger prints by FBI (background check) for both of us
9. I171 H adoption approval letter from USCIS
10. copy of our taxes
11. Medicals for both of us (blood work for HIV etc.)
12. Doctor's license
13. Marriage certificate
14. Photocopy of passports
15. Child abuse clearance for both of us (Social worker to give to us as she got it for our home study)
Will write more once we have something to report. Please keep us in your prayers as we wait to bring our son home. Pray for his safety, that he is being cared for and loved on when needed and that we will continue to seek God's will and be obedient to Him.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Bulgarian Dossier
TOL received our signed paperwork today and emailed us what we need to gather for our dossier. For the Ukraine we had to get fingerprinted and send it to the State of Michigan to do a background check. For Bulgaria we have to redo our fingerprints at the police station and send it to the FBI to have our background checked. This is on our to do list tomorrow!
Also for Bulgaria we have to get our social worker's license, which we didn't need for the Ukraine. So I just emailed her for this. Chris and I also have to have blood work done for HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis. Hopefully we can get appt. for next week.
My hope is still to have everything done by the end of July so please pray for us so we can get our dossier together quickly. The FBI check supposedly takes 3-4 weeks, and I am requesting they do it in 2 :)
After doing all the above, we are told that we will most likely have to redo our homestudy, fingerprints and medical because they expire after 12 months and have to be updated for court. We are being told we could receive a referrel of a child in 12 months and court is about 12-16 weeks after that. Then we travel a second time to bring our son home. I am so glad that this program is a bit less expensive than Ukraine because after we redo all this stuff it will probably cost us the same amount as the Ukraine.
I am following a couple in the Ukraine who are wanting to adopt a son, they haven't blogged since they have been there (this week). I am praying that they do bring a child home.
Thank you for reading our blog and for your support.
.
Also for Bulgaria we have to get our social worker's license, which we didn't need for the Ukraine. So I just emailed her for this. Chris and I also have to have blood work done for HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis. Hopefully we can get appt. for next week.
My hope is still to have everything done by the end of July so please pray for us so we can get our dossier together quickly. The FBI check supposedly takes 3-4 weeks, and I am requesting they do it in 2 :)
After doing all the above, we are told that we will most likely have to redo our homestudy, fingerprints and medical because they expire after 12 months and have to be updated for court. We are being told we could receive a referrel of a child in 12 months and court is about 12-16 weeks after that. Then we travel a second time to bring our son home. I am so glad that this program is a bit less expensive than Ukraine because after we redo all this stuff it will probably cost us the same amount as the Ukraine.
I am following a couple in the Ukraine who are wanting to adopt a son, they haven't blogged since they have been there (this week). I am praying that they do bring a child home.
Thank you for reading our blog and for your support.
.
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