We are getting closer to completing the paper chase for Lana! We received our PA (Pre-Approval) yesterday!
For those of you not familiar with the adoption process I thought I would take a few minutes tell you what we have been up to.
It all started when we found Lana on a waiting child list. We had been talking about adopting an older child (we are not getting any younger and not doing diapers appealed to both of us!) and we decided to look at the waiting children on the Children's House International web site. And after reading the profiles of the children and following the list for a couple months, we saw Lana on a new list. We inquired about her and asked the agency if we could adopt her. We explained to the agency that we thought we were meant to be her family, and the agency agreed!
Then the pains of paperwork began. We scheduled a homestudy with a social worker, which means that we have 4 interviews with the social worker, she visits our home, she reviews our health reports, financial information, background check, and we each write an autobiography. The social worker then writes a report making a favorable determination that we can adopt.
The rest of the paperwork includes birth certificates, marriage certificate, employment letters, and all must be notarized. Each notarized piece of paper (we have 13 documents in all) must then be sent to the secretary of state for certification (meaning that the state confirms that the notary is o.k.). Then, the whole dossier (all these documents together make up the dossier) goes to the U.S. secretary of state in D.C. for authentication and then to the Chinese consulate. Whew! If only we could get the air miles that the dossier logs! After that the dossier is ready to go to China!!!
We are currently flying paperwork across the country. So, if all goes well and FedEx keeps up the good work, by next week, we could be DTC!
In case you have been trying to follow the acronyms, here is a list of the most common used in the adoption process:
LOI-Letter of Intent (the letter we wrote to China asking to adopt Lana)
PA-Pre-Approval (a letter from China stating that we are approved to adopt Lana)
DTC-Dossier to China (paperwork is DONE!)
LID-Log in Date (the date the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) acknowledges our dossier and when we can start counting days to TA!)
LOA-Letter of Acceptance (final confirmation from China that all is good to go!)
TA-Travel Approval (time to pack and finalize travel plans!)
