The dossier paperwork is a work-in-progress. Thanks to our family coordinator, we came to the realization that our dossier documents need to be certified (at the state level) and authenticated (at the Chinese consulate) within 6 months of the document being issued. A couple of our documents had been issued at the end of March, so we had to make things happen pretty quickly. Instead of mailing documents to the state, we drove out to Harrisburg a couple weeks ago and got 10 of our documents certified - the process went pretty smoothly. Last week, we sent those documents (they are required to go through a courier service) to the Chinese Consulate in New York to get authenticated. I (Jen) am a little nervous that the timing will work out, but it should and hopefully we will get those documents back this coming week.
We have officially been accepted into the Waiting Child Program for China through America World. This means that technically, we can start receiving referrals. However, in most cases, you need to have submitted your dossier to China and receive a "log-in date" in order to receive referrals. There is one document in the dossier paperwork that needs the completed home study in order to process, and that document could take 1 1/2 to 2 months to process, so we are hoping to have our dossier paperwork finalized by the end of November or beginning of December.
Last Saturday (9/15), we attended the America World Adoption Pennsylvania 2012 Family Reunion picnic. It was a wonderful experience to see these beautiful families grown through adoption. It was a great opportunity to meet people who are in the process of adopting and those who have already adopted. We are really glad we went and are thankful for having had the opportunity. Sometimes, it is easy to get bogged down in the paperwork and it was helpful to physically see examples of the beautiful end result!
