The Process

The whole adoption process is very confusing, especially with so many Hague rules that have been put into place. So I thought I would give a little explanation for what has to happen now.

Once we received our referral we had a doctor look at her file (although we had already made the decision) before we submitted our LOI (letter of intent to adopt this specific child) and our Family Summary/Treatment Plan (this was done first by email and also a paper copy for our file). We are now waiting for PA (pre-approval) which takes about 2 weeks. We also need to get our dossier (stacks of paperwork we have been working on) sent to China, which is called DTC (dossier to China). Once China receives our dossier they give us a LID (log in date). Then we wait for 2-4 months to receive LOA (letter of acceptance). After LOA we wait 2-4 weeks for TA (travel approval) and CA (consulate appointment) and then, THEN we will travel 3-5 weeks later.

Our biggest hold up right now is that our dossier is in the US Department of State being authenticated. From there it should be forwarded to the Chinese Embassy to be authenticated yet again (the papers have already been notarized and certified by the Idaho Secretary of State). Who knows how long that could take. It has already been in the US Dept for 2 weeks and there is supposed to be a 5 day turn around. Nothing can really happen until we have a LID and as you can see there is still a lot of waiting after that.

I thought the wait to referral would be the longest. But now that I have seen her sweet face I know the next few months are going to be torture! During our wait our agency can request an update and after LOA we can send a care package and possibly get some photos. I can't wait for that!