Step One of the Loooong Process

Okay, so here are a few of the nuts and bolts of the international adoption process. First of all you must choose an adoption agency who works in the country from which you would like to adopt. In my case, the choice was Faithful Adoptions. I did some research reviewed their license and asked for referrals. Once all checked out, I moved forward by sending in the application along with a check for $2,000. Yep, that was the first chunk of moolah out the door! Once this was sent, the agency sent me a long list of to dos.

The first step in the process is to complete a homestudy. What is in involed in the homestudy you ask? Well, I am in the middle of that process. I had to choose a local adoption agency to do the homestudy since Faithful Adoptions is headquartered in Oregon. This is typical, and the cost is the same no matter what agency you choose. The agency completing my homestudy is Across the World Adoptions referred to me by Faithful Adoptions. I sent them a $200 and then was sent the following list of paperwork to complete before proceeding further:

Personal Questionnaire
Financial Questionnaire (very detailed)
Medical Report Form (included HIV testing!)
Livescan forms
Medical Report Forms for any child living in the home
School/childcare Forms for any child living in the home
Indentity Verification Form
Guardian Form
Three Reference Forms sent to 3 friends or coworkers for completion
Pay balance of $2,000 for a total of $2,200 for the homestudy.

Once I finished all of this which was quite interesting, I was assigned a social worker - Annette Ashe.

I am now awaiting a phone call from Annette to set up one of two meetings at which she will get to know me and the people living in my home with me. From these meetings and more forms that I will complete, she will create about an 8 page "story" of who I am! This is the information that the orphanage will use to decide which baby is best for my home.

So, here I sit very eager to hear from Annette and to get this rolling!