Kicking off a hopeful 2009!

High Hopes for 2009...

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe that it is already 2009! No one could have predicted that our journey to China would have taken this long. However we are FINALLY getting close.

To get everyone up to speed, you'll need to understand a few things:
1. Our LID (log-in-date) is the date which the
2. CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) logged our
3. dossier (large stack of official documents translated into Chinese)

into their system.

So our LID is March 14, 2006. China matches children and families by the LID. They have currently matched families through February 28, 2006. So we're getting closer!

I think you might find it interesting to see where all our dossier has been during it's journey--kind of like the old Saturday morning cartoon where we learned how a bill becomes a law...at least that's somewhat useful information to store away, right, MAJ?

First, it all starts with the "Great Paperchase." And it truly is a paperchase! We are required to complete several documents including health physicals for every member of the family, fingerprinting on a state level, a criminal background check, financial forms, employment letters, certified birth and marriage certificates, approval forms from what used to be Immigration and fingerprinting through the FBI and a letter to the CCAA explaining why we want to adopt a Chinese child. Not to mention the homestudy where we met with social workers in their office then at our home to be sure that we could provide a safe and loving environment in which a child to grow up in.

Once all of those documents are gathered, many have already been notarized. Then they must all be state-certified in Indianapolis. Thankfully in Indiana, this is a free service, in many there is a fee for each document and that can be expensive!

After being state-certified, this packet of paperwork is sent to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for their certification.

Finally when every piece of paper has been certified at the appropriate level, our dossier which is now more precious than gold, is sent to the CCAA in Beijing.


Once arriving in Beijing it is translated, and "logged in". Once logged in, it takes it's place on a shelf somewhere and waits it's turn. From there it goes to the "Review Room."

In the Review Room, each dossier is gone over with a fine tooth comb to be sure that everything is just right and that there aren't any questions or concerns. If there are questions, those must be answered to before the dossier can move any further.

Our dossier made it out of the Review Room with flying colors in February 2007.
Now it is sitting on another shelf somewhere waiting to go to the Matching Room.

Once in the Matching Room, basically the people doing the matching look for things that stand out, like similarities in looks, interests, i.e. music, etc., and sometimes they'll even use Chinese Astrology to put families together. This process only takes a few days.

All of the paperwork is sent to the appropriate agencies all over the world and everyone sits on pins and needles until they get "the call."

I remember the day that we got "the call" from Inna about Sam. I knew once I answered the phone and heard her voice what she was going to tell me. Since we don't talk to our agency on the phone often, I think it'll be the same thing, once I know it's Melissa, I'll know that we have a baby!

Basically "the call" consists of basic information, given name, birth date and a little bit about what is termed a "referral." The rest of the information is translated and then all of that along with the baby's photo is sent over-night. I've heard about the Fed Ex Man being called "the stork" several times, I guess he kind of is, what a great job!

Once one "accepts" a referral, more paperwork is sent back to CCAA. Then it's just a matter of waiting for travel dates which typically are 8-12 weeks after referral. We are likely to travel with a group of others who are adopting through our agency.

That gets you up to speed. I'll post more as I think of things. We are getting ready to start renewing all of our paperwork now...everything expires and has to be renewed periodically, so that's my job next week!

:)