So, let's go back in time a bit. On April 24, 2008 Jon and I went to a meeting at Bethany Christian Services called Discover Adoption. We went just to get a little info. We were both kinda' familiar with the process since Jon's parents had adopted his sisters from South Korea, but wanted to go see what they had to say. Well, an hour and a half later I think we both felt like moving forward with our thoughts of adoption was the right thing for us.
The next week we filled out our preliminary application and on May 1, 2007 we found out that we had been pre-approved to adopt from either China or Korea. At first I was leaning more towards China. We thought it would be the less expensive option (which we struggled with saying out loud, we didn't want to sound like we were looking for a 'bargain basement adoption'), but Jon's heart was really with the Korea Program. We were able to fill out the Formal Application without deciding which country we were going to go with, and little did we know, fate would have a hand in our final decision!
On Friday, May 30th, Jon and I went to the Bethany Christian Services office in Muskegon to meet Ann, our adoption worker for the first time. It was a little like going on a first date, we were nervous, and really wanted her to like us, as she did have part of our future in her hands!! While we were meeting she confirmed that we were applying for adoption from China. I immediately said yes, but Jon hesitated and explained that we would still like to keep Korea an option. Well, it turns out that a family had dropped out of the Korea Program that day, and there was a chance that we would get their "spot" if no other families were in front of us. We would later find out that the Muskegon Bethany office only can allow 5 families a year to apply for adoption from Korea. We went on with our meeting, and left with Ann looking into whether or not we could go with South Korea.
The next Tuesday we heard back from Ann...we were in! We both were so excited, not only will we have our baby sooner, but they will be cared for in a loving foster home as opposed to an orphanage. At that point we set up the rest of our homestudy appointments and before we knew it, we were ready to send our first paperwork to Korea!
On July 15, 2008, our homestudy was officially "approved" by the adoption agency and ready to be sent to South Korea to be processed. At that point, we started our paperwork on the U.S. side. We sent out our I-600A To Immigration, that is our Application for Advanced Processing of an Orphan. Basically, it is the form the US government reviews to make sure we will be able to support the child we are trying to adopt. It requires a VERY thorough background check and special fingerprinting at an office in Grand Rapids. On Aug. 28th we went for our fingerprints, and on Sept. 24th our application was approved. Now, we wait. No more extensive paperwork until we receive our referral, just updates every 3 months from Bethany.
So, that is basically where we are now. Now we wait. Hopefully this time next year we will be busy bees getting ready for our baby to come home!
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6 comments:
Love this blog! It's a great way to keep everyone informed.... I'm very happy for both of you...Congrats!
Thanks for included us in your blog! We can't wait for the baby to get here!
How exciting! Welcome to the blog world, great idea to keep up all up to date. THANKS:-)
This is really cool. Great Blog - hope more people join.
Love you, Dad P.
Love to hear how things are progressing. Thanks for keeping us updated. We all anxiously awaite the big day!
This is such a great idea!...now I don't have to ask you every time I see you, "now when are you going to know more again..." I look forward to your next post!
Love you both!
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