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!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Next Steps
We are pleased to be moving along in this process. The latest is that we have signed the agreement, and have been assigned a social worker and a family coordinator. These people will help us get through the home study and the paperwork chase that is our next step to adoption. The dossier will be ready to be sent over to Ethiopia in 4-6 months (the dossier is the collection of the paperwork and home study results necessary to adopt internationally). After that is received and translated, we will officially be on a waiting list for a child. We will also be starting some required training soon. There are a lot of considerations when adopting internationally!
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 in the "notes" section include this info: Eternal Family Program and our name so that they know who the payment is for. We appreciate any financial support we can get as the financial considerations are significant! However, simply keeping us in your thoughts and prayers would also be an awesome way to support us! We feel so blessed to have a big circle of friends and family who are so supportive!
Good night!
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 in the "notes" section include this info: Eternal Family Program and our name so that they know who the payment is for. We appreciate any financial support we can get as the financial considerations are significant! However, simply keeping us in your thoughts and prayers would also be an awesome way to support us! We feel so blessed to have a big circle of friends and family who are so supportive!
Good night!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Our Journey Begins
Hello Family and Friends! This is my very first ever blog post. I am exciting to be writing about a very cool topic, and to be sharing our journey with our nearest and dearest. Nathan and I are pleased to announce that we have made a decision to start the very very very long process of international adoption! We have received acceptance from an agency called American World Adoption (www.awaa.org). We did a lot of research and contacted a lot of references before choosing an agency. We also did a lot of praying and researching about which country our hearts were feeling drawn to, and based on the countries that we qualify for, we feel a strong pull towards to Africa, specifically Ethiopia. The number of mother and fatherless orphans over there is daunting- about 5,000,000. The age we applied for is 0-3 years old, and we had the opportunity to also chose gender, and decided that since Addison still wishes little Chase was a girl, we'd bring her home a little sister!
We want to give a child the love and support of a family that we are so blessed to have! We know that there will be many challenges and risks, but we know that God has chosen us for this task, and that he would not abandon us! We also realize that we have 3 biological children, and that this will affect their lives as well- we are excited for them to experience a deep connection to another part of the world. Skin color should not matter, and we, as a family, are going to help the world to learn this basic truth.
This process will take approximately 3 years, give or take a few months. There were some unfortunate events surrounding the adoption process in Ethiopia, and their program has slowed down by 90%, making the waiting time almost unbearable. We are okay with this, as we know that things will happen in God's time.
How did this craziness all come about? Well, I have always had the desire to adopt, I just never thought I'd actually do it. When I brought it up to Nathan, thinking he would not feel this same "calling", I was pleasantly surprised when he expressed the same desire. I am so thankful that we are on the same page! Since I had no knowledge about the process, I started some research about 3 weeks ago. After what we learned, we were able to be confident in our decision for an international adoption over domestic. And once we learned how long it would take, we felt a real urgency to start the process!
It's funny to think about the fact that our daughter most likely isn't even conceived, but yet, we already love her. And while I won't carry her in my belly like my other children, I already carry her in my heart, and that's pretty special! I know with all of my heart that this little girl is going to change our lives, and our family forever- we won't look at things the same. I look forward to experiencing this with my family- including our siblings, and the grandparents!
There is an excerpt from a book that Nathan has been reading with his early morning Monday men's group at church. The book is called S.H.A.P.E by Erik Rees. It says,
We appreciate all of the prayers, love and support from our amazing family and friends as we begin this process!
We will be running a fundraiser throughout this process. There are some pretty cool t-shirts you can order, and we receive a commission for each one sold, AND you would be raising awareness for adoption and orphans around the world!
www.adoptionbug.com/thegronberg6
We want to give a child the love and support of a family that we are so blessed to have! We know that there will be many challenges and risks, but we know that God has chosen us for this task, and that he would not abandon us! We also realize that we have 3 biological children, and that this will affect their lives as well- we are excited for them to experience a deep connection to another part of the world. Skin color should not matter, and we, as a family, are going to help the world to learn this basic truth.
This process will take approximately 3 years, give or take a few months. There were some unfortunate events surrounding the adoption process in Ethiopia, and their program has slowed down by 90%, making the waiting time almost unbearable. We are okay with this, as we know that things will happen in God's time.
How did this craziness all come about? Well, I have always had the desire to adopt, I just never thought I'd actually do it. When I brought it up to Nathan, thinking he would not feel this same "calling", I was pleasantly surprised when he expressed the same desire. I am so thankful that we are on the same page! Since I had no knowledge about the process, I started some research about 3 weeks ago. After what we learned, we were able to be confident in our decision for an international adoption over domestic. And once we learned how long it would take, we felt a real urgency to start the process!
It's funny to think about the fact that our daughter most likely isn't even conceived, but yet, we already love her. And while I won't carry her in my belly like my other children, I already carry her in my heart, and that's pretty special! I know with all of my heart that this little girl is going to change our lives, and our family forever- we won't look at things the same. I look forward to experiencing this with my family- including our siblings, and the grandparents!
There is an excerpt from a book that Nathan has been reading with his early morning Monday men's group at church. The book is called S.H.A.P.E by Erik Rees. It says,
"Don't ask yourself, How?' How? is never the right question; how? is a faithless question. How? is God's department. He is asking you what? What is written on your heart? What makes you come alive? if you could do what you've always wanted to do, what would it be?
Sometimes dreams get buried by jobs that are unfulfilling, situations that are unraveling, "to do" lists that are unending, and finances that are overwhelming. When our attention is on all of the "stuff" in life, our dreams get stifled."This was the question we kept asking over and over again. How? How will our kids adjust? How will our new daughter adjust? How will we pay for this? How will we fit a 4th child into our 3 bedroom house? And the answer we keep receiving is that it will all work out, and stop asking how. (Another question we've asked is 'are we crazy?!') Currently we have signed the agreement, and we will be sending that in along with our first payment this weekend. Once that is received and processed, we will be assigned a Family Coordinator, and then the Home Study, training, and insane amount of paperwork begins. I will post throughout our journey to our little girl and then after as we become a family of 6.
We appreciate all of the prayers, love and support from our amazing family and friends as we begin this process!
We will be running a fundraiser throughout this process. There are some pretty cool t-shirts you can order, and we receive a commission for each one sold, AND you would be raising awareness for adoption and orphans around the world!
www.adoptionbug.com/thegronberg6
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