Adoption paperwork...

So I officially started the adoption process in January by selecting my agency and paying my deposit. The home study agency was hired in February, and I started the paperwork chase in March. I thought that nothing could be harder than stabbing myself in the belly three times a night, undergo surgical procedures, then wait... and wait... and wait... for the results while I was undergoing fertility treatments. I was wrong.

In March I met with the director of my home study agency and a couple of weeks later the social worker came to my house for my official "home visit." After answering tons of questions about my childhood, my family, my thoughts on discipline, and my plans for the future, I took the social worker on a tour of my home so that she could inspect it and make sure there was enough room for a child and that it was safe for a child to reside here. The whole process took about 90 minutes, but it was truly the longest 90 minutes of my life. Now, at the end of May, I still don't have my official home study documents in hand although I have been assured that I "passed with flying colors." Heck, I have even read the home study report, but there is something still disconcerting about not having it in hand, knowing that it's official. And so I wait... and wait... and wait...

Tonight my coordinator called to let me know that all my dossier paperwork had been received in the home office and had been reviewed and that everything looked good, except.... Yep - that little word indicates a problem. *sigh* I failed to have two of the documents apostilled as I apparently misunderstood what to do with them, so now she is FedExing them back to me, along with one of about a hundred addendum that they need which I apparently forgot to sign. I am normally pretty organized and this failure on my part is so frustrating, and will now cause further delays in getting everything sent off to Russia to really get this process rolling. So, you guessed it, I wait... and wait... and wait...

I keep trying to focus on the goal at the end of this process and am doing my best to keep my chin up. We'll see how long that lasts.