Back to the Beginning

So we started down this journey over 7 months ago, and I have kept personal reflections for myself as well as sent out a few emails updating family and friends.  I have thought about starting a blog to capture and share our story not only for others, but for us to share with our child one day as well.  A few of my friends have inspired me to do so after following theirs over the last few months....seems easy enough!  Now that we are well on our way and in the "waiting game," it's a great time to start!  Sorry for such a long first post, but in thinking about how to start this blog I felt it necessary to bring it back to the beginning.  

March 27, 2011

3 Month Update Email

We are so excited to have been able to share our news of adoption with family and close friends, that would be all of you in this email : )  We look forward to having you along for our journey and wanted to update you on our progress to date since we have not had a lot of time to chat in detail with everyone or answer all questions...

After consideration, we chose to adopt from South Korea for a number of reasons including (1) the stability of the program, (2) quality of information provided in the referral including medical and family history, (3) placement of babies into foster families, and (4) the connection our family already has with S Korea through our nephew Bryan.  We were lucky enough to find an agency right here in Champaign that works with S Korea.  We handed in our adoption application back in January with Lifelink which is connected with Lutheran Child and Family Services of IL.

Fun Fact: S Korea typically places more boys than girls for international adoption.  Girls are usually scooped up through domestic adoptions.  We left our options open but anticipate adding a son to our family.  

We were told in January it was approximately 8-10 months till we would receive a referral for a child and then another 8-10 months before we would travel to pick up our child. These are the best estimates based on number of referrals that came through last year and how long families are currently waiting to travel. However, things can always change....flexibility seems to be the name of the game.  We anticipate the child will be about 5-8 months old upon referral and then 13 -18 months old at travel.

Fun Fact: Over the last 5-7 years, S Korea has been building/pushing their domestic adoption program.  Therefore, children must remain eligible for domestic adoption only during the first 5 months.... great for their families.

Over the last 3 months, Fred and I have filled out and collected paperwork, got finger printed, wrote a self-study, as well as completed a joint interview, individual interviews, and just last Friday a home visit/interview.  Additionally we've completed both required in person parent education and a number of online courses.  Piece of cake!

Now our first wait.....Our social worker will take all of our paperwork, interview notes, finger prints, etc and write a 12 page report on us as well help us apply for foster care status through DCFS.  Because the adoption of our child will not take place till 6 months after being home, we will initially be foster parents to our child.  We are in hopes that this final report will be done by early May...which means we're referral ready through our agency!!!!!!  We then mail the final report along with our proof of citizenship to US Citizenship & Immigration Services to start the process before the child arrives for the processing of orphan petition. 

Fun Fact: S Korea has become more accepting of single parents/moms so the number of children placed for adoption has declined....great for the kids.

We anticipate receiving a call from our social worker this fall (Aug-Nov) with the news of a referral.  We will then have 48 hours to review all information, share with a doctor, and ask questions before needing to make our decision.  Lifelink receives referrals from a S Korean agency and then just goes down the list and makes a referral to the next family that is ready.  We were excited to learn that 3 referral just came through last week!  

When it is time to travel, which means our child received a Visa from S Korea, we are asked to come within 2 weeks....very quick turn around time.  Fred and I both plan to go to Korea, but we can talk more about this later.  Thank you all for your excitement and support.  Look for our next update in May once we know more about our status.

May 25, 2011

5 Month Update Email 

Hope everyone's summer is shaping up to be a full and fun one.  We are looking forward to starting the camping season this weekend!

On the adoption front, not a lot of work on our end the last couple of months unless you count waiting!!!  In April we completed our individual interviews and home visit with our Social Worker.  Following that, it was out of our hands and the first waiting period began for our home study to be written and approved.  

We received word earlier this week that our Social Worker has completed her write up of our home study and has passed it along to her supervisor for review.  Yeah...some progress!  Our home study will then be sent off to DCFS for review and a letter of approval from the DCFSLifelinks.  Nothing like waiting on a State agency with 1 person reviewing paperwork to get back to you in a timely fashion.        

Then on to our second waiting period for a referral which may be close to 5 months or more.... good thing for camping and summer cookouts with family & friends.    

July 8, 2011

7 Month Update Email

It's official...we've been cleared...we are found suitable by the State of Illinois to be foster parents.  Wow didn't see that one coming!

In the meantime, we still have to get a little more paperwork in with the US Department of Homeland Security to start the process for immigration.  This includes a second set of fingerprints with the government....to think our fingerprint may have changed since the first set we had done back in February?  We'll then finish the immigration paperwork following acceptance of a child.  The long wait and countdown to travel will then begin.

Recently we've found out that wait times for travel have increased as exit permits run out for the year.  In short, each Korean agency is only allotted so many exit permits per year, and the number of children waiting to travel outweighs what's available.  So they must wait till the next year and next batch of permits.  Starting this process, we were in high hopes that it would be 8-10 months following acceptance of a child that we would travel.  However, if history repeats itself it may be closer to 12-14 months.  Everything is dependent on South Korea and can speed up or slow down in the snap of a finger. 

Special delivery may be coming in 2013...time will only tell.

"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet"