We have officially started what those in the adoption world call The Paper Chase.
There will be 2 sets of paperwork we are "chasing" in the next few months. One is for the home study, and the second is for the dossier (the big stack of paperwork that will be sent over to Ethiopia). Many of the documents are the same, so we will be doing a lot of scanning and copying. To give you an idea, some of the documents that we are tracking down are: all of our birth certificates (can't be more than 5 years old), our marriage license, passports, background checks (we'll be getting finger printed), all of us getting physicals (Nathan and I have to get ours notarized), employment verification letters from our employers (also must be notarized), proof and copies of health insurance, life insurance, a living will, etc... Nathan jokes that all documents have to also be signed by President Obama. The list seems daunting (it's much larger than the few I listed above), but we are taking it a few steps at a time. We are also required to read at least 5 books on adoption, and complete a 10 hour online training. Those are just the required trainings by the state, our agency, and Ethiopia. We will continue to learn about issues concerning adoption throughout our adopted daughter's childhood!
Today, we met with our social worker, Kim, for the first time. We spent a few hours together at a library meeting room where she went over the requirements for the home study with us. She is going to be a part of our lives for the next 3+ years, as she will also be conducting our post adoption visits (those are at something like 3,6,12 and 18 months after bringing our child home). The country and agency requires these post adoption visits to make sure that everything is working out with our child.
The next visit with her will be in about a month. She will come to our house to see where we live and meet our kids. And no, it's not like what you see in the movies! She just wants to see how we live day to day, and how we are naturally together and with our kids. We feel very comfortable with her, but I am sure that this will still be nerve-racking. Hopefully our kids don't air all of our dirty laundry!
I also wanted to share a few neat things. On Riley's soccer team, there is a boy named A.J.- his parents, Traci and Bill, have adopted 3 children from Ethiopia. They came home with A.J. and his little brother just 4 months ago. Also, after posting my blog on Facebook, a few neighbors informed me of a couple that lives right up the street- they are currently on the waiting list for a little girl from Ethiopia! There is also a family at our church- they just adopted 2 children from Ethiopia. We don't think that these connections are a coincidence- it's obvious to us that God has put these people in our lives because we are going to need this kind of support.
Something we were discussing earlier is that we have been blessed with 3 healthy biological children- conceiving them was pretty easy. Adopting our daughter from Ethiopia will be the hardest (and longest) we've waited for a child! This is going to be some journey!
Reminders:
Our agency, America World Adoption, has a program called the "Eternal Family Program" which enables family and friends to contribute toward the cost of our adoption. Of course, we present this to you as an opportunity and not an obligation. If you feel led to partner with us financially, America World will accept contributions on our behalf and will provide a letter or email to you which will substantiate that the funds have been received by AW. Go to https://www.awaa.org/forms/payment.aspx
And don't forget about our fundraiser! Go to www.adoptionbug/thegronberg6 to order a t-shirt. We receive a commission for each one sold, AND you would be raising awareness for adoption and orphans around the world!
