Steps to adopt

Hello again!

I wrote down all of the steps it takes to adopt. When you see all of the steps that say something about paperwork I am not kidding! We are filling out three different sets of paperwork.

• One set is for our homestudy agency -- they are the ones that write the 20+ page paper about Mr. Olson and I letting the people in Ethiopia know that we will be great parents. They are also the agency that teaches all of the classes that we need to take.


• Another set is for our child finding agency -- they are the ones that are working with orphanages in Ethiopia to find homes for children, and will help us find our kiddos.


• The third is for the packet of information that goes to Ethiopia and tells the government all about us.

So, here's the list of steps:

1. Apply to an adoption agency -- DONE


2. Fill out paperwork -- DONE


3. Take classes (5 all together) -- DONE


4. Write an autobiography (has LOTS of boring information about each of us, and our family) -- DONE


5. Meet with our Social Workers about our autobiographies -- DONE


6. Fill out more paperwork.


7. Have a Home Visit with our Social Worker. She'll come to see if our house is a safe place to live (it is!), check to make sure we have a bedroom with a closet for the kids (we do!), and find out the age and gender of the kiddos we want to join our family (we will tell her two children under the age of 5, and that we don't care if there are two boys, two girls, or one of each).


8. Wait while our Social Worker writes a BIG report about is to send to Ethiopia. The report is called a Home Study and tells the people in Ethiopia ALL about Mr. Olson and I. It will take about a month for her to write it because she wants to make sure there are no mistakes!


9. While we wait we will fill out MORE paperwork that will go to Ethiopia with our Home Study. We will need copies or our birth certificates, letters of recommendation, doctors reports, and lots of other papers!


10. Wait for a referral. A referral is the phone call where our child finding agency tells us all about the children that are waiting for us! I am sure I'll cry TONS when I see their pictures! This waiting can take weeks, months, or as long as a year.


11. Wait for our first travel date.


12. Travel to meet the kids and go to court. During court we will be told the kids are really truly ours. Unfortunately, when we come home we will have to leave the children in Ethiopia. I KNOW I will cry TONS!


13. Wait for our second travel date (4 to 6 weeks later).


14. Travel back to Ethiopia, go to the Embassy and get the kiddo's new passports and other papers to bring them back to the USA.


15. Bring our kids home!

We are just about done with all of our paperwork and I am giving myself a deadline of June 30th. Who's going to check back here on the 30th to see how we did?!