Well, after all the drama and the chaos and my sad post yesterday, I received a phone call from Nichole today after she received an email stating: "Please tell the Fann family that their dossier was approved as of September 13, 2011." So it seems all the proactive stuff we did over the weekend was really unnecessary, but oh well!
AMAZING! Thank you for your prayers and keep them up because we now begin our nearly 4 year wait. So, in the Fall of 2015 will be welcoming home our Forever Child!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A snag...
I've updated a few of you about recent events involving our adoption, but realize that many of you may not be aware of some issues and would ask that you commit these to fervent prayer.
First, as you probably know, our dossier was submitted in early February and we anticipated an approval by September...October at the latest. I've been stalking my own inbox waiting for that happy email from our representative at Children's Hope International, Nichole Deal. Unfortunately, contact came in a very difficult phone call instead. Last Friday Nichole called with some disappointing news. There is one family requesting a baby awaiting approval ahead of us. However, she received a rejection for a family requesting two children who submitted a month or so after us. They were declined because their paperwork expired. Nichole's issue with this is that the paperwork expired because they're taking so dang long to approve. Additionally, she's concerned with the fact that potential adoptive families originally from Colombia are moved to the top of the pile even though their adoptions take significantly less time to complete. Why would they not approve those that take the longest to wait first? It's not as if we're requesting the same children!
Anyway, all that being said to say that Nichole was devastated to call me in preparation to a two-week trip to Colombia, where she expects some of our paperwork to be expired. Paperwork that takes 2-3 months to update, mind you. That's if both parents are home and have access to US government offices...aha, you're seeing more of the problem, aren't you? Right! So with Jonathan leaving the country this week and having been on a military base for the last 30 days there wasn't much hope things would work out in our favor.
After a good cry and a phone call explaining what I could to Jonathan, I came home and began digging. Praise the LORD in His goodness and foresight, he had me prepare two original sets of fingerprints from our local police department. You may remember these were the same fingerprints that I sent to the FBI for our background checks, that they signed for and then proceeded to lose in the building. As crazy of a time that was, God's hand was there too. From when I submitted the prints to when they were found and someone finally helped me, the FBI issued a new form for requesting background checks. So, I had another form to fill out, but again, what possessed me to have Jonathan and I both sign two originals? I know it was the Lord! And, bonus: these forms don't have dates when they are signed. So in a matter of minutes, I had prepared another packet ready to go to the FBI for what we believe will be expired documents once Nichole returns. They went in the mail certified for delivery today.
First crisis averted. Second, Colombia is now requesting a more thorough medical screening as do many countries. Why in the world the military has drawn these same tests on Jonathan is beyond me, but again, God's timing and the fact that he's serving with a medical battalion has helped and he was able to secure review of blood work, a doctor's approval, notarization, and two additional finger print forms (just in case) and get them to the post office to me today. We also learned that should these tests not have been completed and reviewed here, the lab overseas would NOT have been able to draw them. Praise God for a 4 day delay on his deployment!
Lastly, Nichole wants me to wait to have these same tests drawn because insurance will probably NOT cover them and they will be a substantial cost. Some families have been "grandfathered" in and not needed the tests, but if our dossier is delayed or rejected because of expired documents, we may not make the cut. If that's the case, FINE, whatever...take whatever blood you need, just help me get our baby.
So, I guess that's the long and the short of it. Pray for all these details. Pray they're unnecessary proactive actions and that when Nichole arrives in Colombia, they'll hand her our approval. Pray also that as she works with the ICBF (Colombian child welfare equivalent) that she'll be able to control her frustration and come to a resolution that will move these adoptions back to an acceptable timeline...we're 14 months into it and as it stands now, once we're approved we have a 3 years and 11 month wait. That's unacceptable. Pray Nichole can find a way to cut that time back substantially. Two or 2 1/2 years would be ideal for us because Jonathan would be back and we'd be settled into a routine again and definitely ready to travel and get our Forever Child.
Ultimately, though, I have realized these last few days that the Lord has ordained every day of my life and those of my children and when we'll become a family. I'm not waiting on Colombia, I'm waiting for God's perfect timing. Pray I wait patiently. Love you all!
First, as you probably know, our dossier was submitted in early February and we anticipated an approval by September...October at the latest. I've been stalking my own inbox waiting for that happy email from our representative at Children's Hope International, Nichole Deal. Unfortunately, contact came in a very difficult phone call instead. Last Friday Nichole called with some disappointing news. There is one family requesting a baby awaiting approval ahead of us. However, she received a rejection for a family requesting two children who submitted a month or so after us. They were declined because their paperwork expired. Nichole's issue with this is that the paperwork expired because they're taking so dang long to approve. Additionally, she's concerned with the fact that potential adoptive families originally from Colombia are moved to the top of the pile even though their adoptions take significantly less time to complete. Why would they not approve those that take the longest to wait first? It's not as if we're requesting the same children!
Anyway, all that being said to say that Nichole was devastated to call me in preparation to a two-week trip to Colombia, where she expects some of our paperwork to be expired. Paperwork that takes 2-3 months to update, mind you. That's if both parents are home and have access to US government offices...aha, you're seeing more of the problem, aren't you? Right! So with Jonathan leaving the country this week and having been on a military base for the last 30 days there wasn't much hope things would work out in our favor.
After a good cry and a phone call explaining what I could to Jonathan, I came home and began digging. Praise the LORD in His goodness and foresight, he had me prepare two original sets of fingerprints from our local police department. You may remember these were the same fingerprints that I sent to the FBI for our background checks, that they signed for and then proceeded to lose in the building. As crazy of a time that was, God's hand was there too. From when I submitted the prints to when they were found and someone finally helped me, the FBI issued a new form for requesting background checks. So, I had another form to fill out, but again, what possessed me to have Jonathan and I both sign two originals? I know it was the Lord! And, bonus: these forms don't have dates when they are signed. So in a matter of minutes, I had prepared another packet ready to go to the FBI for what we believe will be expired documents once Nichole returns. They went in the mail certified for delivery today.
First crisis averted. Second, Colombia is now requesting a more thorough medical screening as do many countries. Why in the world the military has drawn these same tests on Jonathan is beyond me, but again, God's timing and the fact that he's serving with a medical battalion has helped and he was able to secure review of blood work, a doctor's approval, notarization, and two additional finger print forms (just in case) and get them to the post office to me today. We also learned that should these tests not have been completed and reviewed here, the lab overseas would NOT have been able to draw them. Praise God for a 4 day delay on his deployment!
Lastly, Nichole wants me to wait to have these same tests drawn because insurance will probably NOT cover them and they will be a substantial cost. Some families have been "grandfathered" in and not needed the tests, but if our dossier is delayed or rejected because of expired documents, we may not make the cut. If that's the case, FINE, whatever...take whatever blood you need, just help me get our baby.
So, I guess that's the long and the short of it. Pray for all these details. Pray they're unnecessary proactive actions and that when Nichole arrives in Colombia, they'll hand her our approval. Pray also that as she works with the ICBF (Colombian child welfare equivalent) that she'll be able to control her frustration and come to a resolution that will move these adoptions back to an acceptable timeline...we're 14 months into it and as it stands now, once we're approved we have a 3 years and 11 month wait. That's unacceptable. Pray Nichole can find a way to cut that time back substantially. Two or 2 1/2 years would be ideal for us because Jonathan would be back and we'd be settled into a routine again and definitely ready to travel and get our Forever Child.
Ultimately, though, I have realized these last few days that the Lord has ordained every day of my life and those of my children and when we'll become a family. I'm not waiting on Colombia, I'm waiting for God's perfect timing. Pray I wait patiently. Love you all!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Still waiting...
I just realized that it's been four months since my last post and sadly, we haven't received any official word about our dossier from Colombia. Thankfully (and sadly) I've been pretty distracted though. Jonathan's getting ready to deploy in two months and so we've been really focused on details for his departure. Of course, those plans lead to discussions about the future and whether or not the Army will be a part of that, and then we get back to trying to forecast out when we'll be travelling to Colombia. Hence, "hey, wonder when we'll hear." We also have to make sure that we keep track of when our home study needs to be updated because Jonathan will have to be interviewed while overseas.
So, in trying to keep all that straight, we emailed with our wonderful social worker, Janis, to be sure about the home study. Our awesome agency representative, Nichole, responded and despite all my might, I couldn't help but email her and ask. Nichole is always gracious with us as we wait--sometimes impatiently--and she did give me a bit of an update.
They've recently received approvals from Colombia for families who turned in dossiers in December. They're still waiting on the two sent at the end of January and then we're next with the first week in February. So more than likely, it's going to be August or September before we hear anything else.
I'd ask that you join me in prayer that we hear before Jonathan leaves. I'd just like to share that moment in person rather than across the Internet, you know? We'll keep you posted as always and thanks for your support!
So, in trying to keep all that straight, we emailed with our wonderful social worker, Janis, to be sure about the home study. Our awesome agency representative, Nichole, responded and despite all my might, I couldn't help but email her and ask. Nichole is always gracious with us as we wait--sometimes impatiently--and she did give me a bit of an update.
They've recently received approvals from Colombia for families who turned in dossiers in December. They're still waiting on the two sent at the end of January and then we're next with the first week in February. So more than likely, it's going to be August or September before we hear anything else.
I'd ask that you join me in prayer that we hear before Jonathan leaves. I'd just like to share that moment in person rather than across the Internet, you know? We'll keep you posted as always and thanks for your support!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
No News...
It's been 6 weeks and 1 day since our dossier went into the mail on it's way to Colombia. It should have taken a week to get there and 4-6 weeks to translate. So literally at any time, it could be completely translated and ready to take to ICBF (Colombia's child welfare equivalent).
Once that happens, it could take 5-6 MONTHS for them to approve us to adopt our Forever Child. We won't actually get any notification when it moves from the translator to the government, and we won't actually get any notice that we've been approved until about 2 weeks AFTER it happens and our agency in St. Louis gets a letter via snail mail.
The waiting wasn't bad at first, but then out of the blue I started to do the math and realized we were close to the end of the translation period. That then started me thinking about it nearly every day again. It's frustrating not to know, but I'm trying to take comfort in knowing that God knows EXACTLY where our packet is in the process. He knows our heart and He knows our child. That's the best I can hope for for now.
Please pray for peace of mind and for the Lord's perfect timing.
Once that happens, it could take 5-6 MONTHS for them to approve us to adopt our Forever Child. We won't actually get any notification when it moves from the translator to the government, and we won't actually get any notice that we've been approved until about 2 weeks AFTER it happens and our agency in St. Louis gets a letter via snail mail.
The waiting wasn't bad at first, but then out of the blue I started to do the math and realized we were close to the end of the translation period. That then started me thinking about it nearly every day again. It's frustrating not to know, but I'm trying to take comfort in knowing that God knows EXACTLY where our packet is in the process. He knows our heart and He knows our child. That's the best I can hope for for now.
Please pray for peace of mind and for the Lord's perfect timing.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Keeping Busy...
So I find it ironic that now that I'm on Day 5 of being snowed in, with all this extra time to be at my desk and computer, I have NO adoption paperwork to complete :). As such, I've been catching up on some reading and some research.
Most recently I finished a book called "Adoption Is a Family Affair." It's written to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and close family friends of adoptive parents. It started pretty slow and I almost quit, but I'm glad I continued. In our "parenting preparation" (i.e. home study and Hague training), we were made aware of many of the stumbling blocks our friends and family might have with regard to our adoption. This book addresses many of them for us and if our families read it, then we'll just have to reinforce those items instead of having to bring them all up when they become an issue. Some items of note:
Making good use of my extra time I guess :).
Most recently I finished a book called "Adoption Is a Family Affair." It's written to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and close family friends of adoptive parents. It started pretty slow and I almost quit, but I'm glad I continued. In our "parenting preparation" (i.e. home study and Hague training), we were made aware of many of the stumbling blocks our friends and family might have with regard to our adoption. This book addresses many of them for us and if our families read it, then we'll just have to reinforce those items instead of having to bring them all up when they become an issue. Some items of note:
- Recognize that we have done a LOT of research and praying about our adoption plan. We know ALL the options that are out there and this is the one best for us. We chose international over domestic. We chose a country where the child will most definitely NOT look like us. We will NOT "get pregnant" now that we've decided to adopt (I had my tubes tied, people :) ). And we know it's a costly, long way to get to our child, but it's right for us.
- We have been briefed and will continue to do so on how to aid in the "attachment" process for our new child. We have already begun to adjust our thinking about discipline, sleeping arrangements, visitors, how much of our child's birth story to share with whom and when, etc. after our child gets home. Just as biological children respond differently to types of discipline and affection, so will this child. If you see us doing things that are WAY different than they were with Madison, there's a reason. Help us by reinforcing the changes we will potentially have to make.
- It's easy as a family to get more and more excited as you see a pregnant woman's tummy expand. There's a limited and somewhat defined timeline in which this all happens. Our "expectancy" is vague and a long way off...this book gave me permission to think of myself as "an expectant mother" again. I do NOT expect others to do so along with me for FOUR years :)! However, don't wig out on us when I might want to go looking at cribs or baby stuff. It's a way for me to stay excited and connected and proactive in my wait. I've got four years to nest...let's have some fun with it :)!
- Lastly and probably most importantly...our views and language regarding adoption. This book addressed things that I'm sure others will say to me and that I'm sure I've said to others in the past. There are schools of thought called RAL (Respectful Adoptive Language) and "adoptism." The fact that while be it mostly unintentional, there's the tendency to see adoptive families as "not real" and to ask questions trying to learn about the process while not thinking of how we or our adopted child my "hear" those questions. Very interesting stuff to start thinking about and to start implementing in my own thought process as I look to bring our Forever Child home.
Making good use of my extra time I guess :).
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
What now?
I can't believe that we only began this journey 5 months, 2 weeks and 1 day ago. The amount of time to paperwork ratio is unbelievable...but it's done. So, let's recap the last two months and look at what's ahead.
There have been a few ups and a few downs along the path, but the good news is our dossier is completed and should have arrived in St. Louis before the notorious Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011.
First, some downs: after waiting nearly 8 weeks and calling weekly to the FBI in Virginia to check on our fingerprints and background status I was told that they didn't have our prints and we weren't in the system and basically "you need to start over." After a good sob in the car and resigning to do just that, I came home to find my extra set of fingerprints (I've learned to get at least two of everything they say I need). However, I also found a tracking number from the Postal Service for those fingerprints that "never arrived" at the FBI. Then I had PROOF that they signed for them in Virginia October 8! No wonder we can't find terrorists...they can't even run prints when you mail them right to them and they bring them in the building :)! Thankfully, by God's grace, I got an AMAZING night shift employee who had mercy and followed my packet through, getting me to fax in a new form that was now needed, and to my great joy our background checks cleared and were FedExed the next day. It was awesome and surreal to have someone calling me back regularly, "Ms. Fann, this is Joy from the FBI, how are you tonight?" When else in my life would this happen? Just a fun memory, I guess :). Someday I'll tell my kiddo about the night Mommy almost drove to Virginia to confront the FBI for delaying his or her arrival :).
So after all that, we also got our letter telling us when and where to be in St. Louis for our US Customs and Immigration "biometrics" appointment. Sounds official, right? So we booked a hotel, took Madison to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and drove up to St. Louis. We pulled in the hotel parking lot (driving past all the fancy ones downtown by the USCIS) and arrived in the hood! Jon actually had me call from the lot to cancel...couldn't b/c they'd charge us the full amount. So we reluctantly went inside and saw that it was clean and pretty secure so we'd tough it out. We rounded the night out by driving around downtown trying to find a place to eat, meanwhile my car started making a "chitty-chitty, bang-bang, clank", dinner was sub-par, the parking lot attendant was a jerk, and to our dismay a winter storm warning was arriving the next day. We rushed to our appointment, cleared security, and were in and out in 15 minutes. So, yeah, "biometrics" means that Customs wants to run their OWN fingerprints on us...where do they send them? Yeah, you guessed it: the FBI. Don't even get me started on this absurdity. Once again though, God gave us grace. We called our agency and talked to Nichole who assured us that's all that was needed and "no" she didn't understand why they have to do it that way either. We were on the road 3 hours earlier than expected and still ended up driving the last 1.25 hours in a snow storm. Can't imagine what it would have been like if we'd have been on time. Thank you, God!
And now, the up: That form arrived only 2.5 weeks later...on my birthday! So, I rushed around the next day copying the ENTIRE dossier packet, getting a final notary, and 5 apostilles, to send the entire packet in the mail to CHI in St. Louis! We were able to talk to Nichole again, and she clarified a bit of the next steps for us. We were slightly discouraged to realize that we thought we were about 3 years away from a referral. In reality, though, our packet will be in St. Louis for a week to be sure it's complete. Then it's sent to Colombia where it's translated for about 4 weeks. Then, it's sent to ICBF (Colombia's Family Welfare Bureau), where they can take 5-6 months to "approve" our dossier. They'll mail a letter to CHI to tell us and that's when our wait officially starts.
So, if everything goes to perfection, we should be approved in August 2011. That means that we have 3-3.5 years to wait from then for a referral, which we'll review, and if it's the Lord's will, travel to Colombia to pick up our child. So any time between August 2014 and February 2015, we should meet our new child! Pray for us as this time seems SOOOO long.
We're going to focus on the next few months as we prepare for Jon to be deployed. It's great to spend time together as a family, to be proactive as I approach a year as a single parent, and then to dream about the joy of reuniting as a family and meeting the child God has for us. Madison is excited to meet the baby from "Comumbalie," (she's still correcting us when we pronounce Colombia correctly) although she's decided she wants a sister. We told her it was God's decision, so she's praying He'll bring us a girl :). We're praying, too...just for peace, patience, and God's will and timing for our Forever Family. Thanks for your prayers, too.
There have been a few ups and a few downs along the path, but the good news is our dossier is completed and should have arrived in St. Louis before the notorious Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011.
First, some downs: after waiting nearly 8 weeks and calling weekly to the FBI in Virginia to check on our fingerprints and background status I was told that they didn't have our prints and we weren't in the system and basically "you need to start over." After a good sob in the car and resigning to do just that, I came home to find my extra set of fingerprints (I've learned to get at least two of everything they say I need). However, I also found a tracking number from the Postal Service for those fingerprints that "never arrived" at the FBI. Then I had PROOF that they signed for them in Virginia October 8! No wonder we can't find terrorists...they can't even run prints when you mail them right to them and they bring them in the building :)! Thankfully, by God's grace, I got an AMAZING night shift employee who had mercy and followed my packet through, getting me to fax in a new form that was now needed, and to my great joy our background checks cleared and were FedExed the next day. It was awesome and surreal to have someone calling me back regularly, "Ms. Fann, this is Joy from the FBI, how are you tonight?" When else in my life would this happen? Just a fun memory, I guess :). Someday I'll tell my kiddo about the night Mommy almost drove to Virginia to confront the FBI for delaying his or her arrival :).
So after all that, we also got our letter telling us when and where to be in St. Louis for our US Customs and Immigration "biometrics" appointment. Sounds official, right? So we booked a hotel, took Madison to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and drove up to St. Louis. We pulled in the hotel parking lot (driving past all the fancy ones downtown by the USCIS) and arrived in the hood! Jon actually had me call from the lot to cancel...couldn't b/c they'd charge us the full amount. So we reluctantly went inside and saw that it was clean and pretty secure so we'd tough it out. We rounded the night out by driving around downtown trying to find a place to eat, meanwhile my car started making a "chitty-chitty, bang-bang, clank", dinner was sub-par, the parking lot attendant was a jerk, and to our dismay a winter storm warning was arriving the next day. We rushed to our appointment, cleared security, and were in and out in 15 minutes. So, yeah, "biometrics" means that Customs wants to run their OWN fingerprints on us...where do they send them? Yeah, you guessed it: the FBI. Don't even get me started on this absurdity. Once again though, God gave us grace. We called our agency and talked to Nichole who assured us that's all that was needed and "no" she didn't understand why they have to do it that way either. We were on the road 3 hours earlier than expected and still ended up driving the last 1.25 hours in a snow storm. Can't imagine what it would have been like if we'd have been on time. Thank you, God!
And now, the up: That form arrived only 2.5 weeks later...on my birthday! So, I rushed around the next day copying the ENTIRE dossier packet, getting a final notary, and 5 apostilles, to send the entire packet in the mail to CHI in St. Louis! We were able to talk to Nichole again, and she clarified a bit of the next steps for us. We were slightly discouraged to realize that we thought we were about 3 years away from a referral. In reality, though, our packet will be in St. Louis for a week to be sure it's complete. Then it's sent to Colombia where it's translated for about 4 weeks. Then, it's sent to ICBF (Colombia's Family Welfare Bureau), where they can take 5-6 months to "approve" our dossier. They'll mail a letter to CHI to tell us and that's when our wait officially starts.
So, if everything goes to perfection, we should be approved in August 2011. That means that we have 3-3.5 years to wait from then for a referral, which we'll review, and if it's the Lord's will, travel to Colombia to pick up our child. So any time between August 2014 and February 2015, we should meet our new child! Pray for us as this time seems SOOOO long.
We're going to focus on the next few months as we prepare for Jon to be deployed. It's great to spend time together as a family, to be proactive as I approach a year as a single parent, and then to dream about the joy of reuniting as a family and meeting the child God has for us. Madison is excited to meet the baby from "Comumbalie," (she's still correcting us when we pronounce Colombia correctly) although she's decided she wants a sister. We told her it was God's decision, so she's praying He'll bring us a girl :). We're praying, too...just for peace, patience, and God's will and timing for our Forever Family. Thanks for your prayers, too.
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