High level timeline on the adoption

On March 22nd, we submitted our application with Bethany Christian Services (BCS). I guess that means we have officially started the adoption process. Included in that application paperwork was a contract, so it has to be official right?

Well, today we had a call with someone from BCS who explained what the next immediate steps will be and also laid out a general timeline. By early next week, we will be assigned to an Adoption Specialist. The Adoption Specialist will be responsible for completing the home study and walking with us through the whole process.

We also learned that BCS has a national office in Grand Rapids, MI and that in that office they have someone dedicated as a program coordinator for Haiti. This person stays in contact with the Haitian government and the orphanage that works with BCS, God’s Littlest Angels.

We got a ton more paperwork to fill out and we need to start on completing 30 hours of education. Ten of those hours need to be completed as part of the home study process.

Here is the rough timeline that was laid out for us.

It will take three months to complete the Home Study. (Beginning of July)

It will take another month to review and finalize the Home Study. (Beginning of Aug)

The next step is Immigration approval and that will take two months. (Beginning of October)

After the Home Study is complete we begin work on a Dossier for the Haitian government and for the orphanage. That dossier needs to get translated into French. It will be about 6 months from now when the completed Dossier will get sent to Haiti. (Beginning of October)

It will take a month for the orphanage to legalize the dossier. (Beginning of November)

At this point we can get matched with a child. This process is called referral and that can take anywhere from 6 to 10 months. (August of 2012)

The person we talked to today, began to prepare us that it could take up to 2 years after referral to be able to bring the child home to the States. (August of 2014).

Wow that seems like a long time from now. Both Leslie and I realized that the one thing we can control in this whole process are the papers and steps that we need to do. Delay on those things will only add to the timeline. We are thinking that this is like a trip to the amusement park. You run to the ride and stand in line for a long time only to ride the ride and then rush off to a new line. Wish us luck on our quest for a FastPass.