Waiting on a Referral

TALICEE'S JOURNEY

As many of you know, we are in the process of adopting a little girl. Our journey has been a long one. I should tell you how all of this began so that you can understand why we want to add a little girl to our all boy family.

We have 3 wonderful boys. There ages range from 14-6 years old. After our 3rd boy was born, we decided that we would not have any more children. We felt that God had given us what he wanted us to have. After about 3 years, I began to get the urge for another child. I really wanted a little girl. I knew that if I would have another child, it would be another boy. So I knew that to get a little girl this could only happen by adoption. So, I told my husband about this. He said pray and see what God says. We went to church the next Sunday and that happen to be the Sunday that our church was talking about orphans in India. As we watched the slide presentation, a little India girl popped on the screen. I looked at my husband and he looked at me. We both were thinking the same thing. We would like to see if she is available for adoption. We knew nothing about her or her life. So we proceed to investigate this orphan. To our surprise, India was a closed country for adoption at this time. God had closed one door.

Adoption was still on our minds. We were invited to a dessert dinner for the Crisis Pregnancy Center. There we learned of another opportunity of adoptions. We began this search. We had a home study done and patiently waited for a response from the person that we hoped would help us adopt a little girl. If you use an adoption agency (within the states), you can not specify what sex of the child you want. This was not an option for us. So we chose to use other routes.

As the months went by, we became very discouraged on the waiting process. I was in touch with the lady we were dealing with every week. We still did not have a little girl and were not where close to even getting one. After 2 years went by, our homestudy was going to run out. So I told my husband that this must be God's way of telling us that we will not be getting a little girl. So we let our homestudy run out and put the adoption out of our minds.

In December of 2004, my van had gotten hit at the dealership. I had an appointment to have it fixed the middle of January 2005. My husband went to pick the van up. While he was in the office, he saw a picture of a little Mexican girl. He began to inquire about her. After a lengthy conversation, he decided that we should again start the adoption. I happened to be at a business meeting when he called me. He called and was all excited. He said, I know how to get our little girl. It caught me off guard. I told him that we would talk about it when I got home 3 days later. Unknown to him, I was so excited. I knew this must be another door that God had opened for us.

After returning home, we began our discussion of adoption again. Friends of ours had adopted from China and were very please with the agency they used. So we began that process. We researched China adoption agencies and decided on Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI). So I e-mail for an application. We started filling out the application. On the form they asked us what sex we would like. We definitely marked a girl. Also, because of our age, we could have one that was under 12 months. This was so exciting. We sent our application off on February 1, 2005. We got a call on February 21, 2005, that we had been accepted and that we could download the necessary paperwork to get started. Boy, what a job.

We called our social worker and informed her of what we were doing. She said it should not be hard to update our homestudy. Of course you have to follow all of China's rules. The paperwork is overwhelming. Everything had to be notarized, certified and authenicated. Lots of trips to the UPS store. We made copies of everything we did and kept all receipts.

We went to be finger printed April 21, 2005. This was an experience. We chose to go to Charlotte, NC. One good thing was this was during Spring Break for the boys. So they got to go with us. We had appointmentsfor 10:30. We were out by 11:30. We had heard horror stories, so we came prepared. Once this was approved, we would get our I171-H. This is the most important form that you will ever have. It states that the US has given you permission to bring 1 child back to the US. This was the last piece of paperwork that we needed for our dossier. We received it on May 21, 2005. We had it notarized, certified and authenicated and ready to send with the rest of the dossier. We then sent our dossier to CCAI. There they had to translate it and send it to CCAA. Our Dossier was sent to China on May 31, 2005. It arrived in China and logged in their database on June 9, 2005. From this date, we count July as our first month.

So our long wait begins. According to CCAA it will be between 6-8 months. So we where hoping for the 6 months. This would be December. Well, things were going along great. We would get updates about who was getting their referrals. Well, October rolled around and things really changed. The referrals were not coming as quickly as they were before. Our friends that were 6 weeks ahead of us were still waiting also. November came and no one was hearing anything. Then only 2 weeks of LID's showed up for the month of November. CCAA was now 2 months behind in placing children. December came and again only 2 weeks worth of referrals. Boy are we discouraged. We were hoping to travel in January.

The end of December came and our friends e-mail us that they were getting their refferal. I think we were just as excited as them. They finally got their little girls picture. She is a cutie. So we are very close behind them. We are feeling a little bit better now about the slow process. In God's own timing I keep telling myself.

It is now the end of January and another batch of referral have come in. This time it is from April 23-May 13, 2005. CCAA is still behind. We still keep praying that we will be in the next batch. If not, the next one, for sure the next. Our log in date is June 9th (LID).

It is so much like be pregnant again. The wait is overwhelming. We have now been in the waiting process for 8 months. I guess I want this to happen quickly because I am not giving birth like my other children.

As we keep waiting, we still have things to do to prepare for Talicee's arrive. We are still working on raising money for the orphanage. We have almost finished the nursery. Lots of hand me down furniture and clothes. I have bought a few items, but still waiting on seeing that picture to determine her size. We have asked for a baby 0-6 months, but are willing to take one under 12 months.

In China, to be delcared an orphan, you have to be unclaimed for 8 weeks. After that, they go to an orphanage or a foster home. We are hoping that Talicee is at a foster home. We are uncertain about her age. This is very frustrating. I am one that buys nothing that is not on sale. I see so many cute things that I have a hard time not buying. But the wait will be well worth it.