Adoption Update

Here is the latest in my adoption journey…..drum roll please!!!! I submitted my dossier this week!! Woohoo!! My dossier is now on it's way to Washington DC for authentication!!! This is a MAJOR step in my adoption journey!

For those of you who are not familiar with adoption lingo are probably wondering what a dossier is and what all of this means.....right? First of all, it is pronounced DAH-see-ay (um.....yes, I was mispronouncing it for quite a while!). A dossier is a collection of documents that are necessary to meet the legal requirements for adoption from a foreign country (Ethiopia for me!) as well as the immigration requirements of the U.S. government. A dossier represents you or you and your family (if you are married or single with children) to the foreign adoption authority.

So, what are the documents that are needed for a dossier? Basically, every legal document about you! Seriously! My wonderful adoption agency provided me with a LONG list of documents I needed. Here is an example of some of the required documents:

• Birth certificates for Cameron and me
• Marriage certificate
• Divorce decree
• Homestudy report
• Homestudy agency license
• USCIS approval or Form I-171H (this is an EXTREMELY important form!)
• State criminal background (I'm as clean as it gets! Not even a parking ticket!)
• Medical report
• Power of attorney
• Reference letters
• Financial statements
• Copy of my passport
• Pictures of myself, Cameron, and our home

Whew! Long list right?! Well, that was only SOME of the required documents. YES, even more documents were required! All of the documents have to be authenticated. When you gather all of the required documents, you have to have them notarized....even things that you make a copy of such as my passport. After all of your documents are correctly notarized, the next step is to be apostilled by the Secretary of State. Apostille (pronounced AH-pah-steel) is a state level seal which verifies that the notary's commission has not expired. For me, getting my documents apostilled by my Secretary of State required three trips to Lincoln, Nebraska. I am so thankful to my cousin/sister/best friend Jameca for keeping me company on those trips to and from Lincoln!!! After becoming apostilled, my dossier was sent to my dossier coordinator in Maryland, then to Oregon, then to Washington, D.C., and then to ETHIOPIA!!! Right now my dossier is en route to Washington, D.C.!!! 

One thing I learned while in the Army was to make tons of copies of all paperwork! Two copies accompanied my dossier and the other copies will stay safe with me! As I put all of my documents into the small FedEx box, my heart raced with excitement and nervousness! This is really happening! Praise the Lord! I am one step closer to bringing her home!

Well, there you have it....the latest on my crazy journey to bring my daughter home! 

Thank you to all of you for your continued spiritual and financial support! I am constantly reminded that it takes a village!!!! Thank you for being part of my village!!!! Stay tuned for the next update!!! :)