Just got the word from our home study agency that copies have been made and everything is notarized! Everything will arrive via FedEx in my hands TOMORROW (Tuesday). YAY! And that means…I’ll be joggin, break dancing and singing all the way to the FedEx store to next day ship our dossier, home study and check to AGCI. YAY! So…everything should arrive to AGCI on Wednesday and hopefully we won’t have any revisions…and then we’ll get a number! OH HAPPY DAY!
Look how our dossier has been patiently waiting on our kitchen island for the last week or so…
That’s our original on top and 3 copies below…the original and 2 copies will take off on Wednesday with our homestudy and the extra copy will stay safely here with me.
And what is a dossier (pronounced da-see-ay) anyway???
It’s a list of required documents for international adoption–basically it’s everything that goes over and is reviewed during your court to adopt your child.
Requirements are different per agency, program and country. Before traveling the road of adoption–adoption lingo and the unknown requirements totally freaked me out and were so foreign. It’s really not bad at all once you understand the contents! And it was actually kind of fun to collect it all as it felt like I was getting closer and closer to our baby. Our home study had a completely different set of requirements and required format. For our dossier we had to include this:
Two power of attorney letters—both notarized, one state certified
Background checks in letter format from our city police…easy enough so far, right?
Financial Statements – What he makes, what she makes and what you got that’s an investment
[didn’t include this picture…but 3 letters are required…super simple and can be done in a day]
Original birth certificates and an original marriage certificate…
A letter written to the Ministry of Women of Affairs for the court process from Richard…
Medical letter from our physician saying Rich and I are healthy and have no diseases…
Post adoption commitment letter saying we agree to follow up with our agency every year with our child’s progress…
2 Letters of recommendation from a family and friends….
[both need to be notarized]
Passport photos for Ethiopian records attached to 8×11 cardstock…
(gotta love a passport picture!)
Pictures of our family…
Pictures of our home…
And when you put it all together…it looks like this…
Now…that wasn’t over anyone’s head was it? NOT bad, huh?!
Hmmm…wonder who is reading this that may itching to adopt but not sure the process…well, this is a really big part of the process—and I hope it’s no longer quite as intimidating!!! I almost didn’t share all the pictures, but then I thought if there is one person that this helps realize that it really isn’t as crazy difficult as they’ve heard…then sharing it all is well worth it!
Can’t wait for this to be out of my hands and off to AGCI on Wednesday!
And I really can’t wait to hear what our numbers are…hopefully very, very, very soon!
by admin
Yay!
Still waiting on our case worker to call us with our number 🙂 I have checked FedEx and it was delivered. So, what's taking so long (Ha)! I am glad to hear that your dossier will be reviewed this Friday.
Blessings,
Amy
Yay, I am so happy for you and I hope that your dossier looks great and you will have some numbers to share on Friday 🙂
Well…for someone who will be starting the dossier shortly, appreciate that you made it look a little less scary! Although I am realizing that I have a lot of work to do to make my house look as spotless as yours!! =)
Our home study was approved today!! We've got our dossier ready and waiting to mail off too (thanks to the list you emailed me before the requirements got here in the mail!) HOW FUN that we are in this together!
Jenn
Hey, if it would help someone to adopt I would volunteer to help them understand and do the paperwork- it may seem HUGE, but it is actually not bad. I would do it several times over (oh wait- i have- he he he he)….to bring home a child!
It is happening! God's timing is here! Can't wait to hear your number!
Thanks for this post, we just sent in our orientation packet to AGCI and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our dossier packet. I've been anxious about it from other people's comments, but this looks doable! Would you mind me emailing you with some questions as you appear to be a few steps ahead of us in the same journey? My email is betsyandchad@mail.com
Blessings on your journey!
Betsy