The countdown has begun and I am blessed by each of you that have expressed the "YIPPEEEE" happiness and excitement with us. Many of you have asked about the whole process and what happens next. I obtained this list from another family who is in the process and they did a great job explaining the steps. We are at number 7 and are in the process of securing plane tickets.
Adoption for the Ukraine:
1. Dossier paperwork--gathering things like birth certificates, marriage certificate, etc., and getting them notarized and apostilled2. Home study--a social worker interviews us and looks into our ability to parent and provide for a child or children. There is paperwork gathering here, too, and looking into assets, etc.
3. Immigration--filing fingerprints and money and such with the USCIS (former INS)
4. Sending completed dossier to facilitator in Ukraine for translation
5. Submission of translated dossier to the SDA (the government body in Kyiv that does international adoptions)
6. Getting passports
7. SDA accepts dossier and issues a travel date
8. We travel to Kyiv to meet with the SDA and get the referral of our son.
9. The inspector of our son's region and his orphanage director give approval for us to visit him.
10. We travel to to his city.
11. We get a court date with a judge to be pronounced as his parents.
12. There is a 10-day wait after pronouncement.
13. Passport with his new name ( we do not know yet!) and other paperwork--the paper chase in country
14. Travel back to Kyiv for Embassy clearance and medical checkup
15. Fly home and get hugs from everyone!!!
