I-800a APPROVAL!!!

So, things are getting very exciting around here!!  We are moving right along in the process and inching our way toward a referral!  This past week, we found out that our fingerprints were accepted, and so we became I-800a approved!  I notice that in the adoption world, a lot of letters are used, and we’re slowly being indoctrinated into the language.  For example, Kris walks in….Kris – Are we DTC yet?  Me – No, but we’re I-800a approved and it looks like it’s taking families about 4 weeks to be DTC after they are I-800a approved, and then another 10 days to be LID!!  Hooray!  So, here’s a little decoding for all of that language.  And let me insert here that it is hysterical that I am attempting to summarize the process because these terms are so new to us, and I know that some of you who are reading this have adopted 2,3, or even 4 times!  We are just learning as we navigate this process.  That being said, when our I-800a was approved, it means that the US has approved us to adopt a child from China.  So, from here, all of our paperwork is authenticated and certified (all we know about that process is that it’s pretty expensive, lol!), and then will be sent to China.  This paperwork is called our Dossier, and so when it is sent to China, we will be DTC, or Dossier to China.  Hopefully, about 10 days later, the Chinese Consulate will approve us to adopt one of their children, and at that point we will be officially LID – (Log-in Date).  This is the point where we will be waiting for our referral, which means we will be matched with our little girl and will see her picture for the first time and be able to read her medical, developmental, etc, information.  That could take anywhere from 1 day to 6 months……hopefully closer to the 1 day!  J  This will also be the point where we can send her a care package!  Then it will still be 6-9 months before we can go get our baby!  So, as you can imagine, we’re very excited about all of these letters! 

So far, the process has run extremely smoothly for us, but I haven’t yet read an adoption story that didn’t have at least a little snag somewhere, so we’re trying to prepare for that.  We know that our God is good all the time…..when the adoption process is running smoothly AND when it is not.  This is all in His plan, and we know His timing is the only timing we need to be concerned with.

Another very cool thing that we recently found out about, is that a neat thing has happened for our adoption agency.  Several years ago, the Chinese government let our agency have a special relationship with one specific orphanage in China, so that they receive the files of that orphanage and can place those kids with families that are adopting through them.  Well, our agency did so well with placing the babies with special needs, that the Chinese government has just given them EIGHT MORE ORPHANAGES!!  This is cool because the agency can raise funding to meet the specific needs of those orphanages and also because families adopting from that agency may get referrals quicker than waiting for a referral from the “shared list” (the big list with all of the orphans with special needs in China that all of the agencies pull from.  So, whether our little girl is living in one of those orphanages or not, it’s so amazing to see how God is working through our agency to bring these sweet children to their families!!  And wherever she is, we know that she is the hands of our mighty Father, and there’s no better place to be than that!  God is so very faithful to ALL of His children!

As always, we thank you for all of our prayers for our little girl, you can’t imagine how much we appreciate those of you who have chosen to partner with us through prayer to bring our daughter home.  Hopefully I will have more updates very soon!  J

-allison