Adoption Update

I am so happy to report that my Home Study has been approved by my placing agency (AWAA) and is headed on over to the AL ICPC office to get approved. Then it will be sent to the USCIS office along with my I 800A application. My Home Study will have to be approved there too. Thankfully, this process is going much faster than in past months. It is taking about 30- 40 days, where it used to take at least 90 days ! So, we have just two more steps until we can submit our Dossier to China and have a LID (log in date ). Once we are LID, we can be eligible for our agencies waiting child shared list. Of course, we know that it will actually be some time before we get a referral. The waiting is hard, but it does seem that tine goes by fast and hopefully before we know it we'll be in China seeing and holding our little one for the first time. Over the six months, that we have been paperchasing, we have slowly updated what special needs we are open to. So far, we have checked off: Congenital heart defect, repaired heart defect, webbed or extra fingers or toes, partial or missing appendages, hemangioma/large birth mark, and repaired medical condition. There is a wonderful site that helps educate families about all the special needs called No Hands But Ours. We have spent so much time reading the family stories and researching the different medical conditions. We are still researching and prayerfully considering other special needs. I am so thankful for the ladies who put this educational site together because it will help so many beautiful children come home to forever families.