Monday, October 09, 2006

Oddly Anticlimactic but Still Exciting

It weighs eight and a half ounces.
It's got lots of flashy gold seals.
It has caused us more irritation, sleepless nights, and bitten down fingernails (not that I really need an excuse) than I care to remember.
And now I have to let it go and trust it to the impersonal hands of the united states postal service.

Goodbye, Mr. Dossier.
Hello, Guatebaby?

The cats are not sure what they think about this development.


Bart with DossierSambar with Dossier
Idli with DossierLouie with Dossier



The fine print: We can expect a referral sometime in the next 1-4 months. Hopefully, before we get the referral, we will have received our I-171H (authorization to adopt from Homeland Insecurity), as we cannot be pre-approved by the U.S. embassy in Guatemala without this. Once we accept the referral (more frantic notarizing, certifying, and authenticating) the baby and mother will be tested to make sure their DNA matches. Once we have a positive DNA match, we get to go to Guatemala and visit with Guatebaby.

Our documents will go through family court and then through PGN, aka the Guatemalan attorney general's office, where they will be scrutinized for petty excuses to make us redo documents for typos, notary errors, and etc. At any point during this process, the mom can decide that she wants to parent the child. Although it's not a frequent occurence, our agency has had moms choose to parent, and that was part of why we choose to work with them. The rule of thumb is to expect the unexpected, but most adoptions are completed when the baby is between six months and a year. There's a very detailed flowchart (pdf) here, for those of you who are information junkies.

Once Guatebaby is home (ack, still not totally comfortable with that phrase) with us, we'll do a readoption here, so that we're both legally his/her parents (thank you New York State, for not being run by evangelical freakazoids so that we can do this).

It's really hard, looking at this stack of paper, to believe it will bring us a baby. But I have to believe.

36 Comments:

Blogger Val said...

Yippeee!!! Congrats to you and Pili!

1:58 PM  
Blogger Cat, Galloping said...

i am dying to know what you decided re: gender!

2:08 PM  
Blogger Lyrehca said...

Wow, it seems like things are really close now... just around the corner. And yeah, did you decide on a boy or a girl?

2:13 PM  
Blogger Kerri. said...

I am so excited for you two! I'm curious, too - boy or girl?

2:16 PM  
Blogger justme said...

Really excited!! So did you decide on a little handsome prince or princess?

2:27 PM  
Blogger Lo said...

Yay!! Another step forward!!

2:28 PM  
Blogger Flmgodog said...

It seems so close now even though I am sure it will still be a lengthy road. Mazel Tov ont he next step to you and Pili!!

2:39 PM  
Blogger b. said...

Wow. That is one hefty document. All hail the dossier! Hoping, hoping, hoping that things go well & quickly!

2:39 PM  
Blogger Tekakwitha said...

Wonderful news!!!

tek

2:40 PM  
Blogger Blondie said...

Incredible, isn't it? And downright overwhelming.

Congrats on sending out the dossier!

(I don't think Hallmark makes a card for that, but I think they should!)

2:49 PM  
Blogger Gandksmom said...

WAHOOOOOO! I am so freaking excited. I can't wait till our babies are playing side by side!

3:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow! That is terribly exciting. I will send you typo-free dossier vibes.

4:19 PM  
Blogger Elowyn said...

Congrats congrats! It was anticlimactic for me, too. And I felt (correctly, I think) that the FedEx guys had no clue how important this package was to me, how many hours of work & angst it contained. Sigh. Glad you're done! C'mon referral! Are you specifying a sex?

5:27 PM  
Blogger Pam said...

Congratulations! May your dossier speed it's way to the appropriate authoorities and bring you Guatebaby asap. Boy or girl, you guys will be amazing parents.

6:29 PM  
Blogger Irshlas said...

Congrats! I cried the night we FedEx'd our dossier to the agency. The people in the store just stared at me, but I didn't care. After more than a decade of no success, I finally felt like motherhood was within my grasp. One major step down :+)

7:36 PM  
Blogger Shannon said...

Congratulations and may the process be a speedy one! :)

7:56 PM  
Blogger charlotte said...

I am so happy and terrified for you. that is what I say to someone who will be having a baby soon.

That stack of papers...it has taken so much emotional energy, time, money, and tears to complete that thing.

I wish you a speedy referral, and a smooth process. Your baby is probably already born then?

1:03 AM  
Blogger charlotte said...

Oh! I love your new photo!

1:04 AM  
Blogger Mermaidgrrrl said...

Oh my goddess - you are getting so close now! It's so exciting to see things moving forwards in such a concrete fashion. Go girls!

4:33 AM  
Blogger Thalia said...

Your cats look like they really understand how important this is to you! Congrats on being DTG.

6:27 AM  
Blogger Sandra Miller said...

Fantastic!

Didn't realize you were this close... I am so happy for the both of you :-)

10:13 AM  
Blogger Katie said...

Oh my GOD! It is so close now!! I have shivers!

11:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yay!!!

11:25 AM  
Blogger Trista said...

Congratulations!!!

11:51 AM  
Blogger Estelle said...

Wahoo!! Great great great news! Maybe that stack of papers turn into a baby in record time!

12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that this is moving along. Cute pictures!

12:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

congrats on getting the paperwork done! When we finished ours, I had a sense of peace, and then when we got the I171H, a feeling of elation. Each milestone feels different, each one takes me by surprise.

I don't think I've commented before, a new reader. As for "home," maybe if you say his/her "new home," or "our home," it will make more sense for you?

e

1:03 PM  
Blogger Kevin said...

Congrats!
That's awesome news.

And that flowchart is AWEsome (in both the cool, information overload sort of way and the unbelievable amount of work required in this process sort of way).

2:13 PM  
Blogger Minnesota Nice said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

2:26 PM  
Blogger Minnesota Nice said...

Buena suerte. Puede el bebe pronto estar aqui.

2:30 PM  
Blogger Sarah said...

Awesome! Cheers to the next leg of your journey!

2:54 PM  
Blogger hd said...

First of all, I'm VERY happy that things are progressing.

Second, THIS made me nearly wet myself and laugh out loud at work in front of a classroom full of students who already think I'm insane: "thank you New York State, for not being run by evangelical freakazoids." So, you've been to my state, eh?

9:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congrats to you both :) not much loger now :)

10:09 AM  
Blogger LJ said...

i haven't been around for a while, and look what happens... you are sooo much closer than the last time i stopped by! wonderful!!

2:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's so nice to hit these bureacratic milestones. May the rest of the process fly along!

8:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, yay!!!! I'm so glad that to-do list of paperwork crap has dwindled to almost nothing!! Kudos to you both for pushing forward, pushing on!

1:09 PM  

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