This Just Got Real!

  Posted on December 16, 2014 By

 45 Comments

Late last week our mailbox was filled with all kinds of required approval papers – our criminal record checks, our intervention checks, our provincial approval. Virtually everything arrived on the same day, which meant there was nothing delaying our submission. Well, except us, we still needed to finish our paperwork about our family lives, our personalities and all our decisions related to our future child, including the ever perplexing race and substance abuse decisions. Mr. MPB suggested we go out for lunch on Saturday at a quite restaurant and spend a few hours talking through everything and finishing up our paperwork. His plan worked perfectly as there were no distractions, and we filled in everything in a matter of a few hours. And, as a bonus we had fun too.  Who knew filling out so much paperwork could be fun?!

This means we have now submitted our paperwork! As I stood in our agencies office handing over all of our paperwork, I was overcome with a sense of excitement and yet at the same time I was slightly terrified.

We paid the first “big” installment to cover the costs of the home study – a couple thousand dollars. The fees go up in January so we decided to pay right now, rather than waiting until we hear from our assigned social worker. Well it is a large sum of money, since we are going out of country the cost was actually pretty small compared to what will come at us once we complete all the Canadian procedures. Regardless, putting down a multiple thousands of dollars sure makes it feel real!

They also confirmed that they had received all three of our references paperwork. So, no delays there at all! I think we owe our friends and family some pretty big thanks!

This is it, we are officially on our way!

All of this means, that we are officially waiting for a phone call from our social worker to start our home study!! If it weren’t for Christmas, it would probably start as early as next week. However, given that it’s Christmas, we will probably start in early January. But either way, that’s right around the corner! And thankfully for us, my contract work is very flexible and Mr. MPB also works from home so we can make the home study meetings happen pretty quickly as we don’t have to schedule time off from work in a typical way.

So, our timeline going forward looks something like this:

  • Home Study – 60 days for the social worker to meet with us and complete the report
  • Agency Review and Approval – 30 days
  • Provincial Review and Approval – 40 days
  • Submit our dossier to the USA – as quick as a courier can get it to agency
  • USA Article 15 approval – 45 days
  • Waiting – 1 year to 1.5 years.

In our minds, we are just wanting to get through the next 4 months on the Canadian side. Then we will start looking forward to the USA timelines.

So, our biggest adoption step to-date is done. Which means, we will be kicking of 2015 with some more very exciting next-steps in our adoption process!  And on that note, for the first time in a few years, we are so hopeful that the New Year will actually bring us good news!!

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 Category: Adoption      Tags: , , , , , , ,

45 Comments on “This Just Got Real!”

  4. WOOOOOOOOO! I am so, so, so excited for you! Congrats on this big step. I, too, am so looking forward to hearing good news for you and Mr. MPB in 2015!

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  6. Brilliant news!!!!! So happy that things are moving ahead now and 2015 will be a year of good things for you both! Now enjoy Christmas and New Year, you deserve it!! xx

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  11. That is no easy feat. Nice work! Now I have to keep refreshing my browser for updates. 🙂

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  13. Ahhh, I am so excited for you and Mr. MPB! Getting all that paperwork done and turned in is a huge step! Enjoy Christmas before the rest of the craziness begins. 🙂 Do you also have to make a scrapbook for birth parents to look at?

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    • It feels like the biggest step we’ve taken in a long time! While I’m still a bit scared, I am pretty excited too.

      And yes, we do have to do a scrapbook for birth parents to look at. I’ve already started to collect photos and we’ll make sure to get a lot with family and friends over Christmas. Then, I plan to work on the album during various waiting times. 🙂

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  17. I am so, so, so excited for you and Mr. MPB! I also want to share that another RPL and no longer TTC friend of mine and her husband have been at this process for a while and got very similar timelines as the ones you reproduce here. There have been multiple delays at various stages. Not huge delays – a few weeks, a month or two at a time – but they add up. I personally know great things are worth waiting for. I personally believe that I am better able to manage the stress and upset of repeated delays if I was aware in advance they could happen. I mention all of this in case you are similarly minded or emotionally wired. Don’t sweat the small stuff could become your new mantra! Great idea to do the paperwork over lunch out together. I have such a good feeling about this journey for you. Yay to be officially on your way!

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    • Thank you dear friend. I know the time lines are likely to be drawn out, but technically the 60 day and 30 day time limits are required by provincial legislation. That said, it’s not like it would help us to complain if they went beyond the allotted time frames.
      Anyways, we figure the hardest part of adoption is probably all the waiting that we will face. So, we will use this as an opportunity to practice our skills at being patient, which is something I particularly struggle with. 🙂

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  19. Pingback: Navigating International Adoption | My Perfect Breakdown

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