What's the Process?

A question we have been asked about the adoption is, "What is the Process?"  Along with that question comes, "Where are you guys in the process?" and, "When do you hope to go to Honduras to get your daughter?"  I am going to try to answer these questions as best as I can.  Living Hope has provided a get outline of the adoption process for adopting a child from Honduras.  If you want to read their summary, follow this link http://www.livinghopeadoption.org/HondurasResources.asp, then click on brochure and go to page 2.  Here is our journey in the process, so far:

• Once it was clear to all of us that the Lord had been working on each of our hearts to adopt an orphan (see Our Journey to Adoption), we discussed where we would adopt from (see Why Honduras?) and the age and gender of the child we were hoping to adopt (see Boy or Girl?).  As we made these decisions, we looked at various adoption agencies and decided to go with Living Hope Adoption Agency.
• In early February, the journey officially began as we submitted the application for adoption with Living Hope, along with a non-refundable application fee of $200.  Alexa commented that $200 is a lot of money - and it is, but as we explained the costs that we yet to come, she realized that this was just a drop in the bucket.
• A few days later, the contract was delivered to our door.  We were able to complete the contract and by the grace of God and the generosity of a friend we were able to submit the contract within a few days of receiving it in the mail. (see Hurdles)
• Within two weeks, we had received our packet of training courses with Adoption Learning Partners.  We began the courses and each night was spent in front of the computer learning about the issues related to adoption. (see Back to School)
• The schooling was completed by the end of February and we submitted all of our completion certificates to Living Hope...a few days later, our packet was delivered to begin building our dossier (pronounced Dah-see-ay, but that is a whole different story).  We started pulling together all of the paperwork.  Financial statements, employment records, background checks, birth certificates, marriage license, etc. (see Time to do the paperwork!) 
• Last week, we submitted our paperwork to Living Hope for review.  Now we wait for our first Home Study, which means that Alicia and I go to Living Hope's offices for an interview.  something was mentioned about a psychological test...I always fail the ink blot thing.  It always looks like food of some kind - spaghetti, ice cream, steak, coconut battered shrimp...Hopefully, Alicia will pass.
• Then there is a Home Study when the case worker comes to our home.  The Home study paperwork is completed, processed and reviewed.  This process could take up to 2-3 months.  We are hoping it goes faster than that.
• After our dossier is completed, it goes to the US government Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• Once approved by the USCIS, it goes to the Honduran government for approval.
• Once approved by the Honduran government, then we'll receive a referral from the Honduran National Institute of Families and Children (IHNFA).  The estimated time from dossier submission to referral is less than six months.
• The next step is for us to travel to Honduras.  We will be in Honduras for at least two weeks to work through the finalization process for the adoption and with the US Consulate for our daughters US citizenship.
• Once we return home, we will have a series of post-placement reports that need to be completed.

When do we hope to travel?  This is a tough question to answer.  We hope to travel tomorrow, but obviously this is impossible.  Realistically, we are praying that there are five of us celebrating the birth of Christ together this year on December 25th.  We believe it is possible that we will travel before the end of the year.  We would love for everything to move very fast so that we could go to Honduras in late summer or early fall, but we are content to trust the Lord in His timing.

This was a bit of a longer blog...sorry.  Hope it answers some questions.  Now that I thought about ink blots, I'm kind of hungry......see ya.....