[becky]

We have so many new members on this board...it's great!!

It seems like a good time for a roll-call, just to see who is out there and what stage of the adoption process you are in.

I'll start

Becky & Craig
Atlanta
Parents to 5 beautiful children ages 15 to 10 months
Our youngest daughter was adopted from Guatemala this past summer. She came home at 4.5 months of age.

Our process was relatively easy and we loved our agency, Children of the World in St. Louis.

Good Luck to everyone, and let's hear all about you and your precious children (or children to be!)

Becky

[jen]

I'm Jen and my dh is Scott. We are 32 and live in Indianapolis. Our son, Nick is from Guatemala and will be 2 next week. He came home when he was 8 months old. Our process had many problems at the beginning, but that was soon forgotten once he came home.

We are currently waiting for our 1 month old daughter to come home. We accepted her referral on Dec. 17th. Our DNA has been approved to be done and we are waiting to enter FC. Like last time we have had many problems here at the beginning. Actually this is our 3rd referral as was Nick.

Here's to a speedy process for all of us waiting.
Jen mom to Nick and Holli

[Hanna]

My DH and I have no chidren currently. We live in SC. We are using Children of the World in Alabama-they are great!!!

We are in the beginning stages-have turned in all required forms and documentation, including dossier. Just finished our Home Study and are waiting for our SW to write it up. Then, after SC approval, it must be submitted to the Atlanta INS office-ugh!!

We are hoping to adopt an infant girl and are very excited! Our agency said the wait for a girl referral is about 2-3 months, then they usually come home around 6 months of age (usually 6 months after referral). Give or take a few months.

We are praying this process goes smoothly! Not looking forward to dealing with Atlanta. I 600A was turned in 12/20 and fingerprints done 12/21-now just waiting for Home study to be submitted.

Good luck to everyone!!!

[srspiv]

My Name is Robin. I live in North Carolina and am adopting a son, Mitchell Javier (born 9/2/02). We have been in PGN since early December and are hoping to get the call to go get our son any day now.

This is our first child and the process has been fairly smooth except for one lost referral in the beginning.

sent I-600A 6/18/02
fingerprinted 7/24/02
received I-171H approval letter 8/16/02
referral 9/12/02
Family Court 9/19/02
DNA test 10/1/02
PGN Early December

Blessings on everyone's process, soon we will all have our children home!!

[reneetaylor]

Hi everyone - I am Renee. My husband Jim and I are adopting our son from Guatemala. He was born October 9th, and we expect to travel this summer to bring him home. We live in NC and are using Mandala Adoption Services in Chapel Hill. We have a 5.5 year old daughter who was adopted from Russia in 1998, and she is so excited about having a little brother!

[Bonnee]

My name is Bonnee and I am 28 years old. My husband Stan (34) and I are anxiously awaiting the referral of an infant girl. We are also using Mandala Adoption Services.

We filed our I600-A the end of October, were fingerprinted on December 12th and our home study was submitted on December 30th. Our dossier has been stamped by the Miami Consulate so we are ready to go as soon as we recieve a referral - the waiting has begun............ (and it is really hard - as you well know)

[felmel]

Hi everyone. There seem to be a lot of people at the same stage we are in. Should be interesting. My name is Felicia and my husband John and I live in South Carolina. We have 4 children: 22 yo boy, 14 yo boy, 13 yo girl, 9 yo girl. The youngest has neurofibromatosis so we are not having any more children. We hope to adopt a girl and possibly a sibling.

We sent in our I600 Oct 28, got fingerprinted in mid-Dec and finished our homestudy the week of Christmas. We are waiting on INS approval from Atlanta and a few items for our dossier. We are using an attourney here in Columbia.

[lam524]

Hi, I am laura and my DH John and I are adopting our first child. Our dossier has been submitted, we are waiting for our INS clearance (I was there this morning to give my sworn statement since my prints were unclassified). The woman at INS was hoping to give us our clearance today but she wants a couple things to be added to our home study. Once she gets that then she said we are good to do. Lets see what happens.

We are hoping to accept a referral within the next month so hopefully INS will be straightened out by then. We are using IAR and are very happy.

Good luck to everyone on their journey.

[KDhappygal]

Hello everyone! Dh and I just went for INS fingerprinting this morning. Our first homestudy visit is tomorrow 1/15 and the second the following day 1/16.

We completed our livescan fingerprints last week. We live in CA and here you also have to be fingerprinted by the police department and cleared by the Department of Justice. Looked like the same exact equipment used by the INS but I guess the systems don't talk to each other or something....

We haven't started our dossier yet but expect to get that started early next week.

We plan on adopting a baby girl from Guatamala and right now everything seems to be going so quickly! It was only 1/3 when we sent in the Homestudy Agreement, our paperwork is done with the exception of the medical reports (1/16 and 1/22) and our visits are this week!

I know it is going to be a bit of a hurry up and wait sort of thing, wait for the INS approval, get all the dossier stuff done then wait for the referral etc...

We are just so excited!

[TRBenson]

Hi! My name is Tammy, and my husband Matt and I are hoping to adopt our first child- a daughter- from Guatemala. We are still in the process of selecting an agency however, so we have a long road ahead of us! We are considering using Special Delivery out of KS, even though we are from MN. Has anyone else used them?
We have infertility problems and will be trying to conceive through our adoption process (as we have been for the past 17 months), so who knows...we might end up with two little Angels!

Thank you for starting this post, Becky! I don't post very often, but this was a great way for me to get started!!

Have a blessed day everyone!
Tammy

[BELONGTOGOD]

Hello,

My dh (38) and I (35) are from NC. We have 3 bio children already (10, 7 and 5). We have been to Guatemala on a few trips and few in love with the people and country.

We are looking into adopting a boy (1 to 4) from Guatemala. We too are in the process of choosing an agency. A child seems like a long way away!

We are patiently waiting on God's timing and green light.

I am so glad that I found you guys! You have been great in guiding us during the decision making process! Hugs!

[BrycenRileigh]

Hello. I am Elizabeth and my dh is Stephen. We are from Greenville, SC (and would love to meet any of you - especially anyone near Greenville). We have a 4 1/2 year old little boy (adopted from Ukraine in 2002). We are getting ready to enter PGN for our 5 month old little girl from Guatemala. We are anxiously anticipating bringing her home!!! Wishing everyone the best... Elizabeth

[DMDes]

Hi everyone! It is really great to hear there are so many people out there going through or has been through similar situations. Having one another will really help us all through the anxiousness that we are experiencing.

My name is Diane, my DH is Jac. We have three boys 16 and two 14 yrs. We live in MI. We are currently in FC. Our little girl was born Sept. 4. 2002. We are all very anxious to have her home with us very soon. We hope to be travel in April sometime. We began the whole process Nov. 2001.
Our agency is Bethany Christian Services. We really have not had any major problems. (knock on wood) Just making a few too many trips to the State Seals office. Our agency was right on top of having all the correct documents, and having them all properly sealed. Our acceptance documents arrived in Guat. 10/18/02. We pray the rest of the phases go just as smooth. I hope the same for you.

Hang in there all of you in the beginning of the document stage it sometimes feels never ending.

If I can offer any support to any of you in need I am happy to do so.

Good luck to all of you in your adoption journey!

God bless.

Diane

[ddz]

Hi

My name is Denise. My husband and I are trying to adopt from Guatemala. We hope to bring home another son and brother. Our bio son just turned 2. Next week we will begin the INS fingerprinting and homestudy. DC has a two month long wait right now for INS approval so maybe we will know something this spring. Best Wishes to all. Denise

[patterson_mandy]

Hello, Everyone. I have so enjoyed reading all the postings. My husband and I live in Austin, Texas and are attending our first big adoption orientation in Dallas this weekend. We have been accepted into both the domestic and international adoption programs, but are leaning towards a Guatemalan adoption. Has anyone on these message boards used the Gladney agency? Just curious..they seem to be very reputable so far. We're both very anxious and excited...

Good luck to all,
Mandy