I posted this on kickrunners.com, but it occured to me that not everyone who visits here also reads my worthless crap over there so I'm cross-posting. :)
The meeting with the adoption counselor was this morning, and it went well. She was super nice and explained all our options... most of which are pretty sucky, to be honest.
Russia: 3 trips to Russia are required, making the total cost around $50,000. Riiiiiiiight.
China: Right now they're processing dossiers from February of 2006. 3-4 year waiting period, most likely.
Guatemala: Closed.
Vietnam: Closed.
Japan: Older children only, very difficult, long waiting period.
Domestic: The agency's program is very new, and in my state the birth parents have 14 days to sign a revocation clause (giving up their rights), but the courts take another 4-5 months to actually close the case so there's a possibility that the birth family can sue for rights, causing us much heartache and expense.
We have tons of paperwork to go through, and if we decide to pursue domestic adoption we have to create a "Dear Birthmother" letter and web page with fun, colorful information and pictures. No matter what we decide -- international or domestic -- we have to do our Home Study process, which includes a 3-5 page autobiography on each of us, criminal background checks, financial disclosures, all kinds of legal paperwork, and more. It's criminal; any douchebag can procreate (hello, Britney Spears), but I have to go through months of fertility treatments, years of waiting, all kinds of invasive legal paperwork, and then more years of waiting to adopt. It's just. not. fair.
Anyway, thanks for all the good wishes. I truly appreciate them!
Maybe I'll create a separate blog for this process, as we move through it. Hmmmm.
8 comments:
I appreciate the update Alexis! KR is Tom's place so I don't go there. Wow--that's a lot of hoops to jump through. I'd be very curious to read a new themed blog. You might meet people who have gone through or are going through the process who have great advice. Hang in there!
A lot to think about. My little brother is adopted. I have several adopted cousins as does my wife. All together, I think they are all from: Ecuador, China, Russia and 1 or 2 are domestic. Each of them had their own challenges, but in all cases, they are just as much family as natural born. In fact my mom sometimes reminds my brother that she "was stuck with" me and my sister, she "picked" him. :)
Keeping you guys in our prayers.
Glad it was a good day. Lots of work and waiting, but worth it in the end I'm sure. Hope it goes well for you guys.
It's a long, drawn-out process but so worth it in the end. Even if it does take a few years. I think that creating a separate blog for your journey is a brilliant idea. Hugs to you and IronHubby. You guys can handle it.
"Any douchebag can procreate..."
You said it, girl! I hope it's as easy and cheap a process as can be.
Good luck!
New blog created.
www.theia-thelongslowroad.blogspot.com
Wow, that sounds frustrating but worth it. Have you talked to Melissa Heaton about it or gone to her blog to see all she went through?
Hang in there!
Hang in there kiddo. 2 of my best friends went through the process, heart broken once and now have an awesome son...then went on to have 3 of their own. Adoption can do amazing things.
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