Hi everyone,

As you all know we have decided to adopt a baby girl from China. You can probably tell from the title that her name will be Ava (her full name will be Ava Joi). We wanted to create a place where you could all be up to date on our journey. Although we haven't started the process yet we already have a lot to think about and work on. We hope you will come and visit us often.

Why China??

We decided to adopt from China for a few different reasons. China is one of the most stable international adoption programs. They also keep the cost pretty low ($18K) with no hidden fee's. The children are usually healthy and have a low risk of HIV and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. China has a strict one child policy. Due to this, 95% of the children available for adoption are girls. The babies are as young as 7 months at the time of adoption.


The Adoption Process

We decided to start our adoption in Summer 2006. We first have to apply to our agency. In January we attended a seminar held by Great Wall China Adoptions. By the time we left the meeting we knew they we're the agency for us. They are a very well known and reputable agency. GWCA encourages their clients to bring family members with them on their trips to China while many other agencies discourage it. They are very accommodating and handle everything. Their main goal is for us to spend our time in China bonding with Ava.

After we are approved we will select an agency here in Maryland to handle our homestudy. We will meet with them at their offices and they will visit our home at least twice. They want to learn the story of us. Everything from our childhood, families, friends, interests and finances. Most importantly they want to know how we will raise Ava and what our goals are for her. They will analyze our strengths and weaknesses as future parents.

What is included in the homestudy?

Reason for adoption
Family background and history
Family and Marital relationships
Assessment of Finances
Physicals
Assessment of living conditions
The fire department and Health department will visit our house
Problem solving abilities
Thoughts about adoption


Documents needed

Birth Certificates
Marriage license
Police reports stating we do not have records
Financial statement
Reference letters
Medical report stating we are in good health


When we begin our homestudy we will need to file a I-600A form with USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services). This form is an application for advance processing of an orphan. This form will give us approval to obtain a Visa for Ava. We will need to fill out the form, send our birth certificates, marriage license and when complete our homestudy and a $685 fee. They will then contact us for a fingerprinting appointment. Once they receive our forms we have to sit back and wait for them to process everything. A rep. from our agency informed us that Baltimore USCIS is currently taking 2 months to process. When our application is approved we will receive a 171-H form from USCIS.

When our homestudy is complete and we have received our 171-H form we will send all of our documents to our agency. This paperwork will now be known as our Dossier. GWCA will review our Dossier to make sure everything is correct. They will then send our Dossier to China (DTC). The China Center of Adoption Affairs will then review our Dossier. If they feel it is complete and do not have any questions regarding our application they will Log in our Dossier (LID). We will now be fully approved and will begin the 10 month wait for a referral (also known as Ava). When they match Ava with us we will receive a picture of her and any information they have on her background. After we accept Ava we will have to wait 4-8 long weeks to travel to bring her home. We will then spend 2 weeks in China sightseeing, shopping, bonding with Ava and finishing the final paperwork that will make Ava ours!

We hope this gives you all an idea of what our next 1-2 years will consist of. We hope you will follow us along the way. We cant wait to introduce you to Ava!!