Our Adoption Timeline from Day 1 to Mothers Day

Since many of you have been asking me for adoption news on a relatively regular basis, I decided to start this blog so that you can check in to see if there is any new news for us to report on the adoption front. Lately, we've just been waiting and waiting some more, which is what we'll likely be doing for months to come, but I thought this would be a great way for me to communicate with all of you.

Here is my adoption timeline so far:

10/10/05 - Application 1 to New Beginnings
10/18/05 - Approval for Application #1
11/10/05 - Application 2 to New Beginnings
11/17/05 - Approval for Application #2
01/06/06 - Social Welfare Society (SWS) Contract Sent to New Beginnings
02/04/06 - Homestudy and Dossier Paperwork Sent to New Beginnings
03/17/06 - Nursery Done
03/24/06 - Home Visit with our Social Worker
03/31/06 - Written Homestudy Report Sent to New Beginnings
04/18/06 - Federal Fingerprinting Appointment
05/08/06 - Photo Album and Letter sent to New Beginnings for Birth Mom
06/14/06 - I171H (Federal Adoption Approval)Received from USCIS
06/16/06 - Homestudy sent from New Beginnings to Spence Chapin
06/30/06 - Homestudy sent from Spence Chapin to Korea
07/05/06 - John Parker is Born!
09/18/06 - Referral -- It's a Boy!
09/27/06 - Formal Acceptance of Referral
11/02/06 - Legals Received
11/03/06 - I600 sent to USCIS
11/14/06 - Update and I600 Approval (I171)
12/10/06 - Travel Call
12/15/06 - John Parker Comes Home!!!!

We are currently waiting for fingerprinting clearance from immigration. While this may not sound frustrating, it certainly is, because this is what is holding up the process right now. Once we receive this form, New Beginnings can send our paperwork over to Spence Chapin, who will in turn send it to our Korean agency (SWS) so that we can be matched with a baby. Once Korea receives our written homestudy report, we should get a referral anytime between one to two months.

Our referral will consist of a few pictures of our baby, a written report of our child's medical history (as well as milestones and other important info), in addition to info on the birth mom (and depending on the situation, the birth father, as well.) Also included in the referral is an explanation of why the birth mom has decided to relinquish her baby for adoption. After we get our referral, we will have a doctor specializing in International Adoption (specifically Asian adoptions) review the baby's medical report. Pending everything looks okay to the doctor, we will accept the referral and then wait about another two months for our baby to come home. Our baby will be arriving at JFK Airport!

This Mothers Day, I can't help but to think of and pray for the courageous mommy of my future child. I also can't help but wonder if my baby has been born, what s/he is doing right now, what s/he looks like and when I will get to hold him/her in my arms. It's an overwhelming feeling to know that next year, I will be celebrating Mothers Day as a Mom. I am so grateful that adoption is an option and cannot wait to grow my family this way.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I'll try to update this regularly and will definitely do so when there's big news to report -- which hopefully will be soon!