As you may know, I have begun the process of adopting a little Asian princess from Vietnam. This journey will lead me halfway around the world. I didn't know until last week (5/9/08) who she was, what she looks like or even her name, but it already feels like she is here.
I began the process of adoption in November 2006. This process has kept me carefully busy completing stacks and stacks of paperwork and waiting for over 1 1/2 years. I've seen friends get pregnant, have a baby, and get pregnant again while I was waiting. They did it without background checks, fingerprinting, psychological evaluations, getting copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates and divorce decrees, home inspections and physical exams.
Once all of this paperwork which took several months to compile was completed and notarized, it had to be taken to the Secretary of State to verify the authenticity of the notary, then sent to the Vietnamese Consulate in San Franciso to be translated and apostilled.
Only then, was it proofread by my adoption agency and sent to the Department of International Adoptions in Hanoi. The "official wait" began at that time.
10/06- contacted International Child Foundation
11/2/06- had first psychological evaluation
11/06- retrieved current copies of birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decree from Vital Statistics, was fingerprinted in downtown Phoenix at the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, fingerprinted in the Florence prison for a "local police check", submitted documents to Pinal County Superior Court.
12/1/06- had the required physical exam.
12/21/06- had the second psychological evaluation and home inspection. Apparently they look for cockroaches, rats, broken glass and excessive dust. They may find the excessive dust here:)
1/19/07- home study write up by social worker is completed and submitted to the court system and to Commonwealth adoption agency.
1/30/07- homestudy is approved by Pinal County court.
3/29/07- dossier is submitted, translated, and officially logged into Vietnam. The wait officially begins.
9/07- no news. There is turmoil in the Vietnamese adoption system, as well as other countries. Referrals slow down.
11/07- very few new referrals due to the US Department of State's accusations of baby trafficking in Vietnam.
02/07- I am number three on the official agency list.
03/07- Now, I am number two.
4/20/07- I am told that there is an absolute zero percent chance that I would be getting a referral from Vietnam. I have to completely start over with a new country (Russia or Kazakstan) which will take another 1 1/2 to 2 years. Besides being devastated and angry, I felt that after almost two years of waiting, then having to go thru the whole process again, they might just say that I would be too old by that time. I start looking into becoming a licensed foster care provider and the Kazakstan adoption process.
