There's something about knowing someone is coming to inspect your house that can rattle nerves. In 2005 we were preparing for the homestudy for our 4th adoption. You'd think I'd be old hat at it, but there I was, cleaning away. Still, all would have been fine if it hadn't been for the mold.

My 2 year old had been waking up so early in the mornings that winter that I'd turned an old quilt into a black-out shade for her room. Just before the social worker arrived, I went in to give the bedroom and pulled the blanket off the window, only to discover mold- MOLD!- growing all over the back side of the... more

An adoptive mom emailed me today, frustrated. She said that she got the referral of a baby girl in August during the court closure and is not scheduled to have a court date until late November, with travel planned for mid January. She is understandably eager to get her baby home and is wondering if her timelines are normal. She was also wondering just what has to happen between the court date and the embassy date since her agency is being vague regarding details. Her timelines sound very normal to me. In fact, I know some families who got referrals in early summer who have not yet gotten through court.... more

A reader asked for an explanation of the process of 'authenticating' the documents in the dossier before they are sent on to Ethiopia. The reader knew that the dossier must be authenticated at the Dept of State at the embassy in DC, and at the Secretary of State parent's own state, but wasn't sure exactly what was involved.

I'll take a stab at explaining this just to help you understand this process a little better. But please don't take this as THE definitive explanation. Different adoption agencies may do their documents just a little differently. You'll need to find out your own agency's exact process before you start gathering documents. It is fairly complicated and you... more

One of the peculiarities about adoption is that the intensity of the waiting waxes and wanes. When you are waiting for one particular document to reach your agency so that your paperwork can go to Ethiopia, you can be almost jumping out of your skin with impatience.

When you hear it will be months till you get your referral, you settle down, and can sometimes go hours (days?) without devoting much thought to the adoption. That cycle repeats over and over until finally you get your child home.

We are waiting very-- um-- intensely here today. Our court date in Ethiopia was scheduled for today. We are hoping to get news very soon that we have passed and that the girls are ours.... more

I wrote in a previous post about the I-864, a screening tool to make sure that families who bring kids into the U.S. will have the resources to support them. If you take a look at the Poverty Guidelines and find that your family doesn't meet income requirements, don't despair.

Prove Assets

Another way you can prove your capability is to show that you have assets that you could sell that would make up for the shortfall in cash if needed. For example, there will be 12 people in my family after our... more

The I-864 is a convoluted bit of paperwork required before the U.S. government will issue your child's visa to come into the U.S. The purpose of the document is to prove that you will be able to support your child without government assistance after he comes to America. Your adoption agency will provide you with the form and instructions at the proper time in your adoption process.

The document looks at the income of the sponsor (the parent) and determines if it is adequate to meet the child's needs. The standard that they use is the U.S. Poverty Guidelines. An adoptive family must make 125% of the Poverty Guidelines according to family size to bring a child into the U.S. You need... more

Part One: Getting Your Dossier To Ethiopia

Identifying Your Child

The wait for referral is perhaps the biggest variable in the whole adoption process. If you are adopting a waiting child, you may accept a referral before your dossier even gets complete. If you are requesting an infant, you may wait 4-8 months for a referral, with an infant girl being at the longer end of that spectrum. Wait times do vary between agencies. A brand new agency may be able to give referrals quickly at first before they gain much of a client list.

Children’s Commission

In... more

I thought that people would be interested in hearing a run-down of the whole process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. I know that when we were beginning our first adoption from Ethiopia, I had a lot of questions about the process and what was involved at each step.

Homestudy Agency

Most people start by choosing a homestudy agency. A homestudy is a document written by a social worker and usually consists of 3-4 interviews with the adoptive family. Before those interviews can be scheduled, he family will be asked to provide a long list of documents: birth certificates, marriage licenses and divorce decrees, proof of employment,proof of health insurance,... more

Are you planning on submitting immigration paperwork anytime before the end of the year? If so, you'd be wise to get moving soon on this paperwork. The USCIS has announced a hike in immigration application fees starting July 30. These new fee increases will affect most adoptive families at two points: when they are submitting their I-600A, and when they are applying for a certificate of citizenship for their children.

Orphan Petitions

The fee for the I-600A Orphan Petition will increase... more

For a couple weeks I've been gathering a little heap of things that I've been planning to bring to Ethiopa: instant oatmeal packets, my hot pot, some birr that my sister had left over from her last trip to Ethiopia. The growing heap is getting a little precarious on my closet shelf, and I've thought about getting out one of my big suitcases and officially start the packing. But I've resisted the urge. I told myself that I really ought to wait at least until our case is submitted to court in Ethiopia.

Well, guess what? That suitcase is comin’ out! Our agency director, who is currently in Ethiopia, just emailed me to say that our case was submitted to court last Friday! I am just... more