Adoption Timeline

Have you noticed our new adoption timeline on the right-hand sidebar of the blog?

I saw one on another adoption blog and went sifting through our own colossal mountain of paperwork to document our significant adoption milestones and compile our own timeline. (Those who know us well might recognize some special dates above.)

Not only am I hopeful that our timeline might serve as a reference for prospective adoptive families, but it’s been a real encouragement to see how far we’ve come– and that we truly are in the home stretch! I liken it to pregnancy: When you’re in the midst of it time seems to drag on forever, but looking back from the [near] finish line, it seems to have flown by.

Please keep in mind that this timeline is our own. Every adoption is different, ESPECIALLY depending on which country you are adopting from. That being said, I would say that ours has been very typical of a China adoption. Still, the front end of our process went slower than some, as our agency requires the bulk of our fees up front and we have funded our adoption from our savings and “extra” income. Speaking plainly, we have progressed as fast as we could afford to and, by the grace of God, have avoided going into debt.

When we started our adoption process, the Chinese program was considered lengthy compared to most others out there. In the past year, however, many things have changed/slowed, especially with adoptions out of Africa– namely the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Where are we now?

We are currently awaiting our LOA [Letter of Acceptance] from China, which we expect this month or next. From then, we are told it’s about 10-14 weeks until we travel to bring home Little Man. Our awesome agency [CCAI] has consistently under-promised and over-delivered, and we have confidence in the information that they’ve outlined for us as next steps.

Upon receipt of our LOA, we will finish our i800 (immigration paperwork, which makes Little Man an official US citizen when he steps foot on our soil)  and await our TA [travel approval] which is our formal invitation to visit China. We’ll apply for visas, pack, book our flights, and hit the road. If possible, we hope to layover in Portland briefly on the way home to introduce our son to well-wishers there before continuing on to Montana.

We will continue to update here on the blog and keep the timeline current, though we never tire of friends/family asking where we are the in process.

Here’s another peek at Little Man’s space in our master bedroom. Shopping for “boy things” is surprisingly joyous!