Adoption Paperwork Update!

After a quiet and frustrating few weeks we finally have lots of positive movement regarding our adoption paperwork.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 we received Ruth's immigration approval in the mail! We filed for this on January 10 and since I missed a signature on one of the documents we had to wait longer to receive this approval. It felt like a VERY long 6 weeks.

After we received immigration approval we were told it would take about 1-2 weeks for the National Visa Center to send us a letter confirming they have notified the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou that our I-800 (immigration) was issued. We were AMAZED and grateful that this was sent via email the very next day (Wednesday, February 22, 2017).

Since we had the letter from NVC we could file for DS-260 (which is for Ruth's visa to come to the U.S.) We filed for this on Thursday, Feb. 23. Also on Thursday, Trent and my visas to get into China arrived in the mail! So as you can see, last week was extremely exciting for our family. It felt like so many pieces were finally coming together.

So now what? We are actually done filing paperwork! Now we just wait for the wheels to turn. The Consulate will issue an Article 5 notice to request our travel approval. This can take 3-4 weeks. Once travel approval is issued that can take another 2-3 weeks. After we receive travel approval we plan our trip to China 3-5 weeks later! We were told sometimes these things come through more quickly, but those are the average estimates.

Our agency plans two trip to China per month based on the provinces, so the province Ruth is from would come up for a trip once per month. We were told there could be a possibility to travel in April. However, based on Trent's work schedule and the kids' school schedule, even if that trip is possible we have decided it will be best for our family to travel in May.

The tentative dates are May 12-26, give or take a couple days. Trent and I will be traveling alone. My oldest niece, Zoey, is going to be staying at our home taking care of the girls with help from grandparents. This arrangement is another tremendous benefit of waiting until May to travel. Zoey will finish her semester at Temple University earlier in the week before we travel, and our girls will finish their homeschool year at the same time. We are so grateful that our girls will have the consistency and stability of sleeping in their own beds and being in their home for 2 weeks and enjoying these two weeks of summer vacation with their cousin. As much as they would love to be with their grandparents and Mema the back and forth is very exhausting for them.

While we are so very eager to bring our darling poppet home, we know that this is going to be a hard transition. Ruth has two foster sisters who are extremely devoted to her. They have been her sisters for nearly a year. Would you pray for them? We know the pain associated with letting go of a foster child you love dearly, and our hope is for these girls and their parents to understand just how important their role in Ruth's life is. Ruth joined their family as a very, very weak and frail child. With their tender care she gained strength to stand, walk and now even run! She gained enough weight to have her lip surgically repaired. They cared for her after her surgery. They are the ones doing the hard work of loving and letting go. Pray for them, especially the girls, who are four and seven years old.

Thanks for following along on our adoption journey. The best is yet to come.