The Paperchase Begins ...

Tonight's the night. Well, tonight's the FIRST night anyway! We have our first meeting with our homestudy social worker this evening at 7pm at our home. Her name is Christine and she sounds really nice. She sent me a very sweet and reassuring email on Monday this week to NOT worry; do NOT scrub the corners (though my kitchen floor could definitely use it!) and do NOT try to rearrange all the closets. Several friends who have been through this process have reminded me repeatedly that this is NOT a CPS (Child Protective Services) evaluation ... this is a homestudy. She is here to get to know us to be the liasion (how do you spell that word???) between us and the placing agency. She's here to give them the "thumbs up" that we are able parents and we don't live in a trash heap (though some days I do wonder!).

Some people have been asking what is included in a homestudy. Here are a few of the things I know about:

A LOT of documents: Our birth certificates (for the whole family), our marriage certificate, copies of our most recent 1040, paystubs, criminal background checks, medical clearance forms for everyone in the family (including the children); a financial statement; and three letters of reference.

Then, the SW (social worker) will write a report that details the layout of our home and the "atmosphere." She will interview both me and Mike and will write about our childhoods; our education; our own parents; how we met and married; what our relationship is like; what our strengths and weaknesses are; our jobs. She will meet with our kids (at the next meeting) and ask them what they think of getting a new brother from Ethiopia. She will probably ask us about our parenting philosophies and disciplining philosophies and all that good stuff too. One thing that the Ethiopian government likes to see also is how we plan to make sure our Ethiopian son develops or maintains a sense of pride in his Ethiopian heritage. How will we handle (or learn to handle) the fact that our family is about to become very "visibly" different? She might ask if there are any skeletons in our closets ... hmmm ... don't think so! (If you know one, keep it to yourself -- I haven't been able to come up with any!! :-) )

The homestudy itself is a series of three meetings, two weeks apart. So, hopefully, we will be all done and approved by the end of the summer, which should be perfect timing, since that's right about the time that AAI should be ready for us to begin our dossier.

During this time period also, we are preparing our I600A form, which is an Advanced Petition for the Adoption of an International Orphan (or something like that). Essentially, it's an advance form to file with USCIS (Immigration) so that they will be prepared to issue a visa for our son as soon as we are matched with him. It speeds up the process at the end of the adoption (which is a good thing, b/c it takes the Charlotte USCIS office about FOUR MONTHS to process these forms.)

So ... what I'm learning is that the beginning of the adoption process is HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY on the paperchasing. Then, you wait. We will be in this paperchasing phase for about four months, maybe five. Hopefully, by Halloween, our dossier will be ready to send to Ethiopia and we will be waiting for our referral (which is the adoption lingo for being matched with a child).

This is happening, folks. It's really, really happening. We would continue to appreciate your prayers as the paper tide rises.