All the forms and official documents can be overwhelming but they walked us step-by-step through the paperwork. Which was awesome. We also talked about our Homestudy process; this entails the case worker making sure our home is a safe place for a child and that we are who we say we are. Home studies are required for all adoptions domestic and international. This also means a lot more paper work and obtaining lots of copies of official documents. We will then have to be fingerprinted and background checks done for the USCIS. Then we can compile all the paperwork we completed and send it off to be translated and delivered to China.
Whew! They aren't kidding when they use the term "Paper Pregnant".
She then went over in detail what our trip to China will entail. We will be traveling with other families in our group and we will have CCAI staff members and translators with us throughout the trip. All our in-country bus rides, flights, and accommodations will be arranged by them.
We will land in Beijing first. China requires that you are in country for 2 weeks, so the first week of our trip will be acclimating to the time change (12 hours forward. ugh.) and then touring. They have you tour areas of significance to help you learn and appreciate the Chinese culture. We will get to see the Great Wall, The forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, etc.
I was totally surprised by this as I did not think we would really get to see anything. Though I'm sure it is mostly just a really good distraction from the fact that we have to wait longer to get our child!
From Beijing we will then fly to Zhengzhou. It is in the Henan province located in central-east China. This is where Garrick is!! We will then get to have custody of him for 24 hours, once the 24 hour waiting time period is up we will sign all the papers to legally be his parents.
We will have a few days as a family until we move on to Guangzhou. Once in Guangzhou we will attend the US Embassy and Garrick we become an official US citizen. Then we will depart from Hong Kong.
So as you can see we have a lot to do! This meeting left us both excited and also with a sense of urgency to get everything done as fast as we can. But realistically, we are still 9-12 months from being able to go to China and get him. Once again, I ask of you friends to pray for us. We plan on doing a few fundraisers to help us raise the money needed to complete our adoption. Please consider helping us if you can, we need all the help we can get =)
Steve & Christa
If you feel led we do have an ongoing donation page:
http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/germany-family-adoption-fund/330417
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