The Journey of a lifetime... Here's a quick idea of what a paper pregnancy looks like!
If adopting from Colombia PLEASE join the Yahoo group Colombians Adopt Colombians. It is full of great information! Thanks to this wonderful group we realized we could do the process directly with ICBF (the government program). My family and friends in Colombia can't say enough great things about the work ICBF does in Colombia!
Here's a summary of the process so far.
Step One: Home-Study (No worries, no need to really study... This is the document the Adoption Worker writes approving us to become adoptive parents)
We were very lucky to work with Lutheran Social Services of New England. Our Adoption Worker (Jennifer) is an angel.
Note to self: angels come in the form of social workers, strangers at the FBI phone line who help you because they are adopting, or want to adopt or... as I believe, they are angels, period.
... Like Tennessee Williams said, "Always trust the kindness of strangers".
Documents for Home-Study:Copies of Birth Certificates, Marriage License, Employment Letters, Financial Statement, Fingerprints, Copy Tax Returns, Medical Letters, Reference Letters.
We also took Educational Sessions online on Adoption Partners.
Step Two: Immigration
We filed the I800A.Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country (Colombia!)
Step Three: Dossier (A bunch of documents that will go to the ICBF Institute of Family Welfare in Colombia)
Documents: Adoption Study Report , Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificate, FBI Fingerprints, Employment Certificates
Physical Health Certificate, Psychological Health Certificate, Financial Statement, Verification of Legal Names
USCIS/NBC Approval, Colombian I.D. (Colombian American families only)
This is it so far!
FYI
For everyone concerned with adoption costs, there is a TAX credit dollar for dollar of about 12K for families adopting (international and domestic!) in USA- God Bless the USA!
