I didn't mean for another week to slip by without blogging. I think what has kept me from writing is that I have a lot to update on, and I don't feel that I've had a good chunk of time to write about all of it. So, I've decided to blog in small installments rather than write one really long post.
First Installment: What you have all probably been wondering about...the adoption! Towards the end of February our re-done registration documents were sent to CHI in Brentwood, TN. We were told that they looked great - no problems, which was a huge relief! Then they were sent to CHI's main office in St. Louis. They were looked over again and then more documents prepared by CHI were added. Then, on Friday, March 7th, they were sent to the Children's Hope office in Moscow!!!!!!!
At this point, we really don't know too much else. Our new adoption consultant from the St. Louis office, Marti, has told us to expect about 2-6 weeks for our documents to be translated into Russian. The next thing that will happen is that we will be assigned to a specific region of Russia. It seems to me that the regions of Russia are kind of like individual states, in that they all operate and handle adoptions differently. Marti told us that currently most couples are being assigned to a region within about two months from the time their documents arrive in Russia. This can change in an instant, but we are hoping that this trend continues for us. If that is the case, we could find out our region around the middle of May - about a month from now. We are looking forward to receiving this information as it will give us a better idea of what to expect in the days to come.
As I was talking to Marti, I asked her about how long to expect to hear about a referral. She is in the business of trying to prepare adopting parents for the worst-case-scenario. I feel that in the time line that she gave me she was doing just that. She told me that it could take up to 2 years.
Before you begin to panic, let me give you a little background...Last year, things in Russia slowed down immensely because they decided to require all adoption agencies to be re-accredited according to their guidelines. However, they took a long time to finally begin to re-accredit agencies (Our agency was re-accredited in December). Now that most agencies have finally been accredited, it's going to still take a while for the wheels to really start going again.
The good news is that our agency has seen a
definite increase in many families traveling for their first and second trips since January. Marti told me that CHI feels that the wait time will go back to what we were originally told (~12-14 months).
Although I could have completely panicked and cried my eyes out after I talked to Marti, I decided (and so did Zac after I told him) that we need to take the whole "2 years" comment with a grain of salt. We really don't expect for this to happen and have yet to come across anyone who has had to wait this long. However, it did help us to realize that we really need to settle in for what will probably be a little bit longer of a wait than we had hoped. I try not to put dates or months in my head, but I am expecting now for our wait to be at least a year.
However, I have NO idea the time line that God has in mind. We know that He is ultimately in control and no matter how long we have to wait, He is going to be faithful to give us the grace to endure and it will be worth it in the end. We hope and pray, though, that He would act quickly on our behalf and we would get to meet our son this year - we don't mind if you pray for that, too! Also, we covet your prayers for peace, a calm spirit, strength, and grace as we begin this wait.
From this point on, I will be in touch with Marti about once a month. So, I may not know very much for a while now. I am excited, though, to be officially waiting. Most people call this time period the "paper pregnancy". So, I guess that is where we are - just pass the pickles and ice cream! :)
P.S. Installment Two to come in a few days...
