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Thursday, February 27, 2003 |
TIP: two ideas for gifts--seed packets (especially American, heirloom seeds) and handwarmers (the little packets with chemicals that last about 6 hours). What gifts, you ask? We are expected to bring small gifts for everyone--drivers, translators, facilitator, orphange workers, orphange director, and who knows who else.
posted by AnnMarie at 11:18 AM |
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Tuesday, February 25, 2003 |
INS Form I-600A
INS Form I-600A I think I linked to this before...but just in case....Update 03/03/03: new link since the INS is no longer the INS.
posted by AnnMarie at 8:33 AM |
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Monday, February 24, 2003 |
I've finally gotten in touch with an old college friend, Jhon (aka Kuro Kitsune). He lives in Russia. Well, not exactly. I had thought he might live in Moscow, and really hoped it was near there so we could see him on one of the trips. He actually lives in Osh, Kurgystan (spelling?). (Osh - Oshkosh weird, huh?) That's preety much no where near anywhere. It's somewhat close, comparatively, to Novosibirsk, which is where we would have been with LSS. CHI has an orphange there, too. But I think that's like saying Oshkosh is near Pittsburgh. Now, if we were adopting from Kazakhstan that would be different. He used to live there, and plans to return when he can. And it's close to Osh.
posted by AnnMarie at 9:22 AM |
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Background Check Gateway Info on how to get our background checks for other states in case ASI can't tell us. This was the question Joann had--they need checks (drivers, criminal, and something else) from every state in which we've lived for the past 5 years. That's two for me and three for Eric. They do WI, but said we are on our own for NJ and WI. Yes, they've had others in this situation. But no, they have no idea what we are supposed to do. AARGH! A) this sort of thing should be covered in the money we are paying them and B) why not have this on the intitial application where we stated our previous addresses? That way, we could have gotten on it a week ago instead of today. We were told at the meeting that the interviews wouldn't be set until all the paperwork including background checks got back. :(
posted by AnnMarie at 6:39 AM |
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Sunday, February 23, 2003 |
Almost finished with all of the paperwork that we have for ASI and for CHI. For ASI--everything is signed. Eric's bio is all that's left for us to complete. I also need two forms filled out at work--employment history and income from Nick and insurance verification from Sabrina. (The latter is to show that the adopted child will be covered by health insurance.) ASI is moving; on Friday, the lady who gave Eric the papers said she tucked in a card with the new address. It wasn't there--so we have to wait to get that before having Nick and Sabrina send in their forms. Eric already has two appointments tomorrow so will probably turn it all in on Tuesday. Friday afternoon (while we were out), Joann from ASI called with some questions. We didn't get the message until after 5, so he'll call tomorrow. Hope there isn't more paperwork to do!
For CHI--we have the application almost done. A few long answer questions to put down on the papers--tried the wording out on the computer first. Then, have to find photos: a semi-formal (snapshot okay) of us, the outside of the house, and three rooms. I have the latter two from this summer and last when Mom and Dad took pictures. I just hate giving away originals. We plan to get some glossy photo paper for the printer. Wish I'd remembered that yesterday at Target! Unfortunately, we can't find the the nice photos of us this summer at the weddings. I made copies for LSS and I found extras of those. But where are the originals???
posted by AnnMarie at 11:29 AM |
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Saturday, February 22, 2003 |
My bio is done. LSS had two pages of "short answer questions" then the bio. ASI just has a bio. I had to integrate some of the answers into the bio. There's a way to create other pages in this blog. Once I figure it out, I'll post the questions they asked. No one did this sort of thing, but I would have loved to see the questions beforehand. And the two had very similiar ones for the bio--everyone wants the same information, really.
posted by AnnMarie at 5:05 PM |
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Friday, February 21, 2003 |
Eric dropped off the application for a homestudy to ASI today. Picked up a bunch more paperwork to complete--financial statement, health reports, income and insurance verification, autobiography questions, etc. We hope to finish those all by Monday, Tuesday at the latest. I'll be able to use my autobiography for LSS for this--with some revisions.
posted by AnnMarie at 4:23 PM |
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Thursday, February 20, 2003 |
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Wednesday, February 19, 2003 |
(Sigh, my post disappeared. I also can't find the spell check feature.) The HS process will take about 6-10 weeks after they get our initial paperwork--application and security checks. That should not take long unless the latter isn't returned quickly. There are 4 required meetings with a social worker from ASI--3 in the office (one with us together, and one each alone) and one at home. They try to schedule these once a week for a month. It takes around 2 weeks for the SW to writeup the homestudy. It's sent to us for review, then polished up. We also have to get our health reports done during this time. So, 6 weeks minimum, and I'm going to be gone at least one week in March (hope they can schedule Eric's meeting then). We can't wait to get the application in!
posted by AnnMarie at 9:09 AM |
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Yesterday, we met with Kristin at Adoption Services, Inc. (they have a website, but it's minimal, so I won't bother linking). We are definitely using them for our homestudy. Hope to finish the application this evening--we have to come up with a fifth person to be a reference. Maybe a fourth as well--not sure whether to continue with my pastor. He doesn't really know us very well, but was required for LSS. I have some ideas and sent them to Eric to think about.
I was disappointed in the meeting overall. I had expected to learn a lot more about Children's Home Society and WACAP. Heard nothing at all about the latter. The majority of their international (or just Russian?) adoptions are through CHS. But Kristin didn't know a whole lot about them--ASI really just does homestudies. They have agencies they tend to work with and will recommend to others...but it's not a close connection. However, she had only positive, glowing comments about CHS. For me, the two primary reasons for CHS are it's close enough to drive to (Eric's requirement) and it's in MN (I'll admit it--I have a bias towards anything there). I've heard only good things about them, too. But we still like CHI's pay before you go (meaning less cash to carry in-country).
posted by AnnMarie at 9:02 AM |
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Tuesday, February 18, 2003 |
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cd to buy
Adoption phrases in Russian--a cd with such topics as When you meet your child, In the bathroom, On the plane, Food and drinks, With your hosts, and Other helpful terms. Sample phrases: 'This is for you.' 'Sit down, please.' 'Good job!' 'Which one do you want?' 'It's time to wash hands.' 'I love you.' 'Do you want to play?' 'Everything will be alright.' Sounds like something to buy in addition to the general learning Russian we want to do. But it's about $50--the price or half the price of a full language cd. There are some great comments, and it's endorsed by a couple of the support groups I like.
posted by AnnMarie at 11:29 AM |
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Monday, February 17, 2003 |
Just made an appointment for a meeting with Adoption Services, Inc (Appleton). They work with Children's Home and possibly WACAP. (Papers said they do, but on the phone, the lady said she thinks they just stopped doing so.) I wonder if they also do homestudies for other agencies (if we do go with CHI). We'll know tomorrow by lunch time!
posted by AnnMarie at 7:27 AM |
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TIP: Possible song for the baptism: "How Can I Keep from Singing?" This traditional Shaker hymn is in our Gather hymnal. The words are perfect for a baptism. I think they have particular relevance given what we, and the children, will have gone through to get to that point. The one in the Gather hymnal is a little different, and longer. In the late 80s or early 90s, Enya sang a version that I've always loved. It's the one that runs through my head. The original lyrics are by Robert Lowry (caution--that page automatically starts playing it). I guess one question I had better ask if they will even let me choose one or two songs to be sung the day of the baptism. If not, perhaps I can at least choose a song for the baptism itself. Since I know our pianist/organist, I think he'd be open to the idea. It would really mean a lot to me to have a favorite song or two that day.
posted by AnnMarie at 6:22 AM |
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Friday, February 14, 2003 |
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Tuesday, February 11, 2003 |
There are three main things to decide before we choose and agency: gender, age, siblings/unrelated. Our opinions and desires have changed over the days, weeks, and months. Right now, we know we want 2 girls. We had been thinking under 2 1/2. Since the conversation with Mary (CHI), we've decided we're okay with up to 4. And we'd prefer siblings. Originally, I loved the idea of unrelated, because it meant we could choose the ages more carefully. (It limited the agencies, however!) With more thought, and the willingness to go up to age 4, siblings makes more sense. More people are willing to adopt a single girl under the age of 3 than are willing to adopt two children. Therefore, two unrelated children have a better chance to be adopted by others than does a sibling group. That means CHI and Children's Home are still on the list. Need more info from the latter.
posted by AnnMarie at 12:57 PM |
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I bought two journals today--Lord of the Rings journals with the words "there and back again" (from Bilbo's book) on the cover. I think they will make perfect journals for the two trips! I had to buy two--it wouldn't be fair to only have one to pass on to our children. My present plan is to switch (each day?) between the two books, leaving blank pages equivalent to what was written in the other book. Once home, I'll photocopy all of the pages and paste into the opposite book. This way, both books end up with the same content! I'm seeking some Russia-themed rubber stamps, to use both then as well as now. So far, not a lot of luck. Got two leads from a listserve. One is a beautiful plate (entire sheet of images that you cut up yourself) with a Russian church and a Russian postcard. Each appears both large and small. The other lead is a bit on the cute/cheezy side--a line of Russian men. But it could be fun to use!
posted by AnnMarie at 12:48 PM |
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Tip: Buy the children ultra fancy "Christmas photo" outfits for the court date. Idea from Pat M. Friends of the family adopted a little boy last year. They picked up a Christmas suit for him. It was much exclaimed over at court. Had read that Eric and I need dressy outfits (no pants for me!), but no one had mentioned the kids before.
posted by AnnMarie at 6:31 AM |
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Monday, February 10, 2003 |
CHSM local information meeting: Appleton, WI, Monday, March 17, 7-9pm in partnership with Adoption Services, Inc. Please call 262/513-0443 for more information. (Children's Home Society MN)
posted by AnnMarie at 11:01 AM |
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Colors of Russia looks like a WONDERFUL book to buy our children. "What color is Russia? It's blue like the cold water of Lake Baikal, white like the snow-covered land of Siberia, gold like the onion domes of the Russian Orthodox churches. Get to know Russia in this beautifully illustrated introduction to the largest country in the world."
posted by AnnMarie at 9:16 AM |
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Friday, February 07, 2003 |
Just got a message from Tree of Life that not only do they allow the adoption of unrelated children, there is no minimum age difference. The next question is just how likely is it to happen.
posted by AnnMarie at 12:16 PM |
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Thursday, February 06, 2003 |
Third update, now that Eric and I have had a chance to talk. We won't be using LSS. I forgot to mention before--they won't even do the homestudy for us if we go with another agency for Russia. It makes sense however--they are accredited by Russia. Should anything go wrong with our adoption, they could be in trouble since their name was on some paperwork. They won't take that risk. (If it were a country in which they did not place, they would do the homestudy.)
But it means we can't go ahead with the homestudy right now. And our application fee is down the drain (although it was worth all that we learned). And our references will have to write new letters (I'm sorry!).
posted by AnnMarie at 4:19 PM |
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Two updates today. First: LSS.
They absolutely do not allow gender preferences to be stated. They will informally keep it in mind. But the process works as follows. After the homestudy, we are on their waiting list. When they get a list of X available children at the orphanage (in batches every few months), they take the next X families and match kids. If 6 boys are available, the next 6 families get boys. They don't keep you waiting until what you most want appears. They have plenty of families on the list for the children that are available, so do not take requests.
I don't think this will work for us.
Second: Children's Hope International
Sent them an email asking about adopting unrelated children. They recommend against it and only do so in special circumstances. At the same time Mary replied to my email, she also called us! That was pretty neat--all we had done was request info online and then a short email. And they called to explain further. They have lots of siblings available (one reason they prefer to not do unrelated children). She also said we should be open to up to age 4. I'm okay with this, but Eric was worried about the child being ready for school. She gave him some reassurance on this, by talking about the older children she had adopted.
We hope to attend their info meeting March 1. It's in IL, about 3 hours away.
posted by AnnMarie at 12:18 PM |
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Monday, February 03, 2003 |
Getting Started with international adoption, Russian adoption has a nice list of myths and truths about the adoption process. In addition to the INS recommendation I just wrote (below), they also say you can go ahead with the home study before having a final choice of agencies. That would be nice to keep going with LSS for now.
Just saw a recommendation from an agency to go ahead and start in on the INS Form I-600A. You can turn this in before choosing an agency. INS processing is something that can hold up your paperwork for referral, so we should get this going!
posted by AnnMarie at 12:20 PM |
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Sunday, February 02, 2003 |
I had thought it was neat that LSS incorporated a $1000 donation to the orphanage in the fee/cost schedule. I also thought it a bit odd that that was one of the items that doubled for a second child. Last night, I discovered this donation is required by the government. I still think it's a good idea--just not LSS's!
posted by AnnMarie at 12:20 PM |
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Saturday, February 01, 2003 |
Last November, we won the LSS (Lutheran Social Services) lottery--we were one of 13 couples in this area (NW Wisconsin and the UP) selected for their domestic infant adoption program. We were ecstatic.
In January, we began a series of 4 afternoon seminars with 6 other couples. We began realizing that domestic adoption might not be for us. We ended up switching to the international adoption program. The only LSS program that incudes Caucasian children is in Novosibirsk, Russia. Given the costs, we hope to adopt two children at once. In Russia, you can adopt two unrelated children, so we wouldn't have to find a sibling group.
We want two children under 30 months. The youngest in the LSS program is 9 months. They require at least 9 months between children. So, we're hoping for a 9-month old! We'd really like to get two girls. I want at least one daughter, and have a slight preference for two.
We're not sure how this will work--we had a voice message from the international adoption coordinator, Amy, saying we can't indicate a preference at this time. The original info from LSS, however, said we could (although we "should be open" to either gender). We will be meeting with her again on Monday. This is one of MANY questions we have.
Hmmm...the fees (filing and fingerprinting) are doubled for non-siblings. But we don't know yet whether we will get siblings. Wonder what we should do? It's probably worth a double filing now than to run in problems later.
I'd really like to sponsor a child in a Russian orphanage. Maybe this is something we'll do as a family down the line.
posted by AnnMarie at 12:21 PM |
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