Introducing myself
Hi there! My name is Jill, and after several suggestions from friends and family, I've decided to start a blog. My husband, Daron, and I are in the process of adopting a baby from Guatemala. Our wonderful friends and family have been so supportive, so hopefully this site will make it easier for them to follow our progress.
I have to admit, I'm kind of at a loss as to what to write, so I'll just start with telling you a little about how we arrived at the decision to adopt from Guatemala. My husband and I began dating over 6 years ago and now have been married nearly 3 1/2 years. We started trying to have a baby soon after we married, but were not having any success. We decided to seek medical advice, and ultimately determined that I have severe endometriosis. I had surgery which successfully relieved much of my pain; however, it unfortunately did not lead to a pregnancy. We did try some medical treatments, but after still no success, we decided it was time to end the emotional heartbreak of trying to conceive and pursue adoption. I can't tell you how great it is to finally feel hopeful about becoming a parent!
After attending an adoption workshop presented by Lutheran Social Services (LSS), we decided international adoption was the direction we wished to take. We compared many international programs, and decided that the Guatemalan program was the best fit for us. We are so excited!
So, where are we at in the process? We have completed our homestudy and submitted our I-600A application to the USCIS. We're about 2 1/2 months into that process, and they told us it would be at least 90 days until we received USCIS approval. Therefore, we're hoping to be approved very soon. In the meantime, we are working on our dossier which is basically a packet of legal documents we need to put together and have notarized, certified, and authenticated by various people/offices. For example, we each have to have a Statement of Employment provided by our employers. By signing the document, they are verifying that we are indeed employees of our respective companies and validating our salaries. Those documents (as well as all the other documents) are to be notarized by a licensed notary and then sent off to the Secretary of State for certification. Once we have received certification, we then send the documents to the Guatemalan Consulate to be authenticated. Finally, we'll be able to send the authenticated documents to LSS and we should be done with the bulk of the paperwork.
After we receive our I-600A approval, we will await a referral. A referral is a match with a baby. We will be given information about the baby, a medical report, and a small amount of information about the birthmother. Once we accept the referral, we will have reached a major milestone. From that point on, we'll be given regular updates and will just have to wait for the Guatemalan legal process to fully terminate the birthmother's parental rights. Approximately 4-8 months after referral, we will go to Guatemala, meet our baby and bring him/her home!
I hope to keep you updated as things happen. Please drop in and check out how we're doing! And if you are familiar with the process and have any advice for us or if you just want to pop in and say hi, we would love to hear from you!
Jill
I have to admit, I'm kind of at a loss as to what to write, so I'll just start with telling you a little about how we arrived at the decision to adopt from Guatemala. My husband and I began dating over 6 years ago and now have been married nearly 3 1/2 years. We started trying to have a baby soon after we married, but were not having any success. We decided to seek medical advice, and ultimately determined that I have severe endometriosis. I had surgery which successfully relieved much of my pain; however, it unfortunately did not lead to a pregnancy. We did try some medical treatments, but after still no success, we decided it was time to end the emotional heartbreak of trying to conceive and pursue adoption. I can't tell you how great it is to finally feel hopeful about becoming a parent!
After attending an adoption workshop presented by Lutheran Social Services (LSS), we decided international adoption was the direction we wished to take. We compared many international programs, and decided that the Guatemalan program was the best fit for us. We are so excited!
So, where are we at in the process? We have completed our homestudy and submitted our I-600A application to the USCIS. We're about 2 1/2 months into that process, and they told us it would be at least 90 days until we received USCIS approval. Therefore, we're hoping to be approved very soon. In the meantime, we are working on our dossier which is basically a packet of legal documents we need to put together and have notarized, certified, and authenticated by various people/offices. For example, we each have to have a Statement of Employment provided by our employers. By signing the document, they are verifying that we are indeed employees of our respective companies and validating our salaries. Those documents (as well as all the other documents) are to be notarized by a licensed notary and then sent off to the Secretary of State for certification. Once we have received certification, we then send the documents to the Guatemalan Consulate to be authenticated. Finally, we'll be able to send the authenticated documents to LSS and we should be done with the bulk of the paperwork.
After we receive our I-600A approval, we will await a referral. A referral is a match with a baby. We will be given information about the baby, a medical report, and a small amount of information about the birthmother. Once we accept the referral, we will have reached a major milestone. From that point on, we'll be given regular updates and will just have to wait for the Guatemalan legal process to fully terminate the birthmother's parental rights. Approximately 4-8 months after referral, we will go to Guatemala, meet our baby and bring him/her home!
I hope to keep you updated as things happen. Please drop in and check out how we're doing! And if you are familiar with the process and have any advice for us or if you just want to pop in and say hi, we would love to hear from you!
Jill
posted by Jill | 7:21 PM
3 Comments:
Welcome to blogland, Jill. I'm so glad you decided to start blogging, and I can't wait to follow along.
wishing you lots of luck for a very short journey and a beautiful baby!
Welcome to the blog world! I am glad that we can share your Guatemalan adoption with you!
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