Wednesday, March 5, 2008

And Now We Wait

We received official word yesterday that our dossier was submitted as it was supposed to be. So what happens now? Well, we wait. Here is what we know:

- Today is Day 3 of what typically takes about 30 days (sometimes more). Sometime in the next month the SDA will look over our paperwork to verify that we are who we say that we are and that we are able to adopt the children that we are requesting. That is my take on it anyway.

- If all goes well with the paperwork then we will get an appointment date! In the past (for other families who have adopted) this date has been about 3 and a half to four months from when they turned their dossier in. However as far as I can tell we are one of the first families to have their dossier submitted since the SDA reopened for submission this year so I am not sure if their is a big backlog of families waiting to travel or something else that would make our appointment date pushed out a little further.

- Once we get a travel date we will start planning and preparing for our trip. There are all kinds of things we will need to take care of in order to be out of the country for at least a month, often times longer.

- The week of our appointment date we will probably plan to arrive in Kiev a couple days before our appointment just in case we have any travel delays.

- At our appointment we will likely be shown a few referrals that meet the criteria that we are requesting. (2 children, either sex, ages 6 and under, with minor correctable health problems. This is the typical language used to describe children who have minor health issues and delays that are typical of children who have been living in an orphanage.) We are actually approved for up to three children, so you never know. ;)

- After we accept a referral we will travel to wherever those children live in Ukraine to meet them and to hopefully pursue the adoption of the children.

- From there we would do all the legal paperwork and process to adopt the children. It usually takes a week or two for this and then there is almost always a ten day waiting period. Sometimes people come home during this ten day wait and sometimes they stay. It will depend on the situation, how long we have been there, etc. I may stay and Kevin may come home for the wait and then fly back. This will be something we won't decide on until we are there.

Feel free to ask any questions you have about the process. I will answer them as best I can. There is so much more to it than what I wrote, but I am trying to keep from boring you or confusing you. So that is it in a nutshell.

8 comments:

Zack, Jenn and William said...

Congrats on submission of your dossier! Praying that you will quickly get your appointment date so you can begin making travel plans. (It took about 45 days for us to receive our appointment date after submission, but hopefully things are moving faster now!)

Anonymous said...

Its good to hear that things are moving forward. Hopefully there won't be any bumps in the road from here on out.

junglemama said...

Woo-hoo! How exciting! Can't wait to hear when your appt. is.

Kevin and Krista said...

45 days, Jennifer? Uh. You're killing me. That is about the longest that I have heard. We will have to see if things are going any quicker now. No one else that I know of submitted their dossier before we did this year.

Chris and Virginia said...

Hi Krista and Kevin,

Thanks for stopping by.
So, are we excited yet?? Each milestone seems to get bigger and bigger; not sure how much more we can take :).

Like you two, we are after a sibling group of 2 but want at least one girl. We are a bit more open on age though (2-12) and feel confident that we will find our special ones there. Ukraine called and it feels so right to us.

It would be really cool if we could meet some other adopting families while in country. Though our dossiers were submitted within days of each other, this is Ukraine and who knows when we'll actually be traveling.

I hope you don't mind me adding your blog to our families list; it makes it much easier to follow along with other's journeys.

Congratulations on your submission and well be keeping in touch as things progress. Cheers.

Nataliya said...

What a great news!!! Congratulations!!! I'm wondering when your appointment date is going to be - as you said it may be pushed back because you are one of the first families submitted this year. We received our appointment date in 35 days, so hopefully it will be even faster for you. In any case, I think it's much easier to wait when your dossier is submitted. Let me know if you have any questions about packing, language, etc.

Kevin and Krista said...

Thanks, Nataliya. You might be sorry that you offered. ;) I know I will have tons of questions in the near future and I will keep you in mind when I need help. I really appreciate it!

:) Krista

Courtney said...

Woohoo! I know you guys have been waiting for this for awhile!! Enjoy your last few months of peace and quiet! LOL :) :)