I am not done writing about our first meetings and early experiences with our adopted children, however I had to interrupt and share about the last two days.

I meant to write this up for yesterday and have it be a "Love Thursday" post, but Thursday came and went before I had a chance to do any writing.

But, I need to tell you all that I am in love. I am in love with our new social worker! Yesterday our new social worker came to do our visits for our homestudy update. She came first in the early afternoon to meet with Josh and I, then she came back at night to meet with all of the kids, and then she came back this morning to wrap things up.

I was very nervous about... more

Here are more tips on getting your dossier done as quickly as possibly.

- Don't be overwhelmed. It may seem like a lot of paperwork to get your dossier done, but many adoptive parents complete their dossiers quickly and fairly easily.

- When you drop off a request for a document for your dossier, such as a medical letter or police clearance letter, have a cover letter with your pertinent information and stating that the letter is needed for an adoption. Include a sample or letter ready to go onto letterhead and be signed if possible. Ask if you can wait while it is prepared. If that is not possible, ask when it will be done.

- If you have documents that need to be authenticated... more

In my last post I started discussing tips on how to get your adoption done as quickly as possible. In this post, I am going to give some specific advice on getting your dossier done as quickly as possible.

For folks who are not quite sure what a dossier is, your dossier is the documents that are required by the government of the country you are adopting from, when you are adopting... more

Here are some more tips on getting your adoption process to move along as quickly as possible.

- Use Fedex or something similar to send important documents. This way you can use tracking number to verify that packages were received, instead of having to check in with your agency every time you send them something. (And, it is faster to use Fedex or something similar than it is to use regular mail).

- Make color copies of everything and keep yourself a set. If something is lost or needs to be redone, it is so much easier to have that accomplished if you already have a color copy.

- Be professional. Every time we send paperwork to our agency, to immigration, to the Secretary... more

We have a running joke around here. It usually starts with us talking to someone about adoption, and us trying to answer their questions. Inevitably, somewhere along the line, the person will ask, "Doesn't it take a long time to adopt?" to which Josh always replies, "Not if you are my wife."

Now I certainly do not have any magic powers to speed up the wheels of bureaucracy, however I do have quite a few tips on getting your adoption completed as quickly as is possible. I will share my tips as we go through this adoption process. I do also understand that not everyone is... more

The idea of "finalizing your adoption" can be a confusing one. Basically, it means that you have adopted your child in your state, through the local court system. Once this is done, you can apply for and receive an updated U.S. birth certificate (from the state you live in if you adopted internationally, and from the state the child was born if it is a domestic adoption).

We got to finalize Belane's adoption on Friday, which was nine months and a few days after she came home. Technically we did not have to finalize her adoption or "readopt" her. She came home on an IR-3 visa, which meant she was a U.S. citizen upon arriving in the United States, and that her adoption was full and... more

Wow! I am up to letter "W" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs. I am still open to brilliant suggestions for the letter "Z", which is just a few posts away now.

The letter "W" is for the wait (insert ominous music here).

The Wait - Waiting is hard. Waiting stinks. Waiting for something as huge and eventful as a new child is harder to wait for than most, and waiting for that child while knowing that that child is "out there" in the world is arguably one of the most difficult things possible to wait for.

Unfortunately,... more

In my last post I wrote about post-placement reports. I described what they were, when they are needed and why they are needed, and how important they are. When adoptive parents commit during the adoption process to comply with post-placement requirements it is a serious commitment, one that affects the future of adoptions, and not one to be taken lightly.

So here are some tips on how to get your post-placement reports done, and done on time.

-... more

My last topic under the letter "P" in my Transracial Adoption ABCs is post-placement reports.

Post-Placement Reports - Post-placement reports are an important part of the ongoing paperwork that you must accomplish after your child is placed with you, whether through domestic adoption or through international adoption.

In the first few months that... more

In my last post, I wrote about the paperwork that is involved in a typical domestic adoption. In this post I will outline the paperwork that is required for a typical international adoption. While some of the info and steps are the same, there is more involved in international adoptions.

It is important to note that in international adoptions many of the paperwork steps overlap each other in their time frames, and that the order of things can vary slightly.... more