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“What keeps us alive? What
allows us to endure?
I think it is the hope of loving, or being loved.”
-Meister Eckhart |
There is
quite a bit of information contained here, but some of you may
be interested in hearing about the little details that have
certainly helped to make the time pass as we have prepared for
our journey. Believe it or not, this information was condensed
from a fourteen page journal I have been keeping!
January 2005- We officially began our adoption
journey-the New Year has marked “a letting go of the past” and
forward momentum for us. The ability to heal and accept what
ultimately cannot be changed still amazes us, and we never dared
to hope that we could feel so renewed.
February 2005- Started calling and e-mailing several
different adoption agencies to gather information. One of the
first decisions that we have to make is whether to adopt
domestically or internationally. We have also been in contact
with a local social worker online.
March 2005- As we gain knowledge regarding adoption, we
are learning about ourselves. We had never considered the
possibility of an international adoption, but the thought of
learning and incorporating new and interesting elements and
traditions into our family is intriguing to both of us. We are
also stunned by what we have learned about the “daughters of
China.” Although we had some cognizance of the situation there
regarding population issues, we really didn’t have any
understanding of the policy’s implications on a generation of
little girls. We wrongly assumed that domestic adoption would be
the best plan for us, but now we are beginning to see that
perhaps there is a different plan.
April 2005- Let the process begin!! We did it! We sent in
our initial application to our agency, and have been accepted
into their China Program on a preliminary basis. YAHOO!!!!!
May 2005- Lots of paper chasing! Fingerprinting, letters
of good conduct, long form birth certificates, marriage
licenses, passport photos, autobiographies (LONG), reference
letters, physicals…we also met with our caseworker for the first
time today in NYC. Here are two funny pictures that we found
while putting together our Dossier! Our days of picnics and bike
rides with our daughter are on the horizon!
June 2005- More paper chasing! We both received our
employment verification letters and we composed our Petition
Letter to the Chinese Government today. At the end of June, we
had the dreaded Home Study! I (Tam) respond well to snacks, and
so did our social worker :) Dave was a cleaning maniac! It went
very well! Our SW answered many of our questions, and we had
lots! Now, we wait for the Home Study Report!
July 2005- Very quiet month with NO news to report.
August 2005- We FINALLY received our Home Study Report!!
September 2005- We went to the Immigration and Naturalization
Services to have our biometric fingerprints completed for
Homeland Security. Sounds pretty official. Finally, we visited
the State Department to have our documents apostillated.
October 2005- YAHOO! We received our completed I-171H
form today. That’s our Advanced Processing of an Orphan, and it
means we have been approved by the US Government to continue
pursuing our adoption. We went to our agency and went through
our entire Dossier. Everything looks in order. Next, we went to
the CHINESE CONSULATE!! Our completed Dossier (10/28/05-DTC) was
mailed to the Beijing Offices where it will get translated. We
should have our Log In Date in two or three weeks!!!!
November 2005- We received our Travel Information Packet!
Lots of important things that we need to know about our trip.
Our Baby Bjorn arrived! It’s red and black…the color of a
ladybug! I love to wear it! We attended a Travel Workshop at St
John’s University in Manhattan. It was great to see so many
families who have completed their adoptions. The babies were
just beautiful! I can’t wait!!! We can’t wait!!! AND…YAHOO!!!!!
YAHOO!!!! AT 4:00pm today, we received an e-mail stating that
we, Tammy and David, do have our official Log In Date as of
11/21/05. Right now, the current wait time to referral is 6
months. So…December, January, February, March, April, May
(referral), June, July (leave for China??). We are hoping our
little daughter is warm and has enough to eat as we celebrate so
much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Eve.
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“Like cold water to a weary soul, is good news from a distant
land.” -Proverbs 25:25 |
December 2005- Names, names, names! We have been thinking
about names, and have finally narrowed it down to three or four.
We each have our favorites… No other news to report. We decided
to “skip” our traditional Christmas because we can’t wait to
celebrate it with our daughter next year! We also learned that
there has been a MAJOR slowdown with paperwork processing in
China. It may take an additional two months to referral time.
That would give us a September travel date. We had our first
round of Hepatitis shots today!
January 2006- Happy New Year! We really hope that this is
our year! A pretty quiet month. Just work…finding it hard to
concentrate and FOCUS! Had second round of Hepatitis shots.
February 2006- Time seems to be going so slowly. We heard
that it may be November before we can travel to China to bring
her home. It’s so hard to wait…I’m finding that I’m grouchy and
frustrated.
March 2006- Yahoo! All documents with a LID through July
31, 2005 have been completed! August documents are now in the
Review Room!
April 2006- I take back that YAHOO from March… only 5
days worth of LID dates have been processed and our agency has
no LIDs for this time period. Things are truly coming to a stand
still. Dave and I celebrated our 13th anniversary today. We
never could have imagined when we were so young the path that
our lives would take to lead us to our daughter. The wait from
LID to referral has now grown to from an initial six months to
twelve to fourteen months. At the end of the month, while we
were sleeping, referrals were issued for 5/31/05-6/6/05.
September Dossiers are now in the Review Room!
May 2006- Happy Mother’s Day. We wish you were here…we
said a prayer for you and your birthmother, and wonder about the
decisions facing her and how much she loves you. We know that it
is dangerous for her to seek a better life for you. There is so
much about China that we still need to learn. October Dossiers
are now in the Review Room.
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“When you ask how I’ve been here without you-
I like to say I’ve been fine and I do.
But we both know the truth is hard to come by,
And if I told the truth, that’s not quite true.”
-John Denver |
June 2006-
Referrals were announced for LID through 6/28/05. That is
finally a BIG group! We are a little, itty bit closer :) October
Dossiers have made it through the Review Room, and WE are in the
Review Room!!!! The pace has picked up a bit and we feel
renewed. We had our final Hepatitis shots. So…here we are
nineteen months into our journey, and we are UNBELIEVABLY
anxious!! Can you imagine doubling a human gestational term and
then anticipating labor for an additional unknown number of
months!?!? Just a hypothetical question and yes…even Dave is
showing signs of labor pains!
July 2006- Starting to work on website so that family and
friends can follow our journey to China and our forever family.
Please visit the “WATING for REFERRAL” link, which will be
updated. Thank you again for your support and prayers for our
little daughter, and perhaps an occasional thought for us too!
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With Love,
Tammy and David
“An invisible
red thread connects those who are destined to meet,
regardless of time, place, or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never
break.”
-An ancient Chinese belief
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