[dmsteele]

Hello. I'm new to this board. We are in the process of completing the application for adoption through FAC in Michigan.

Just curious of what to expect from the entire process. I've been reading that it's taken 5 months and not sure if that means from start to finish or just finishing the homestudy and application process.

My husband and I both are a little overwhelmed with the process and just wondering if that's a normal feeling. We haven't spoken with anyone at the agency other than a orientation meeting we attended a few months back. And just need to discuss this with people going through the same process were going through.

I'd appreciate anyone's feedback and would love chatting with anyone on their experiences with FAC.

Thanks,

Dawn

[teachermom]

We are using FAC from Ohio. We turned in our formal application May4 and our little girl just arrived home Oct.5. It think it depends partly on how fast you get your stuff done and how quickly your home study goes, ect... But really at the most it shouldn't be anymore than 4 months after you receive your referrral.

Our daughter came home 3 months and a week after we received her referral. She came home at 5 months, 1 week, and 2 days old. She is such a blessing and a joy. She is adjusting so easily and is really attaching to us. She smiles and laughs all the time.

I really found that the agency walked us through everything. The hardest part for me was waiting for INS approval. We went through Cleveland and it took 7 weeks. We got our approval on Sept. 15 and our travel call on Sept. 23.

You should get a referral very soon after your home study is completed. I've heard they have babies waiting. They've been bringing home about 25 babies a month.

Good Luck to you.

PM me if you would like to join a yahoo group just for FAC Korean people. We have about 31 members. This group was the only way I got through the wait, and a place to get questions answered.

Sarah

[teachermom]

Sorry, to answer your question: it is easy to feel overwhelmed with all the paper work at the beginning. Most of the paper work is at the beginning though. So, you'll get through it. My biggest recommendation-----make a copy of absolutely everything. I also had a calendar just for this adoption. I'd write down the day I mailed something, received something, if I called someone at FAC. It really helped me keep track of everything. I bought an expandable many pocket folder thing at Wal-mart and divided it into sections like: papers ready to send, papers to do, copies, directions given by the agency, information on international adoption, ect...

We really hurried through our paper work. We hunted and hunted for an agency for months, and when I found this one we immediately attended the info meeting and knew! We turned in our pre-application 2 days later and it took us a total of 8 days to get all our paper work turned in: that's references, doctor visits, auto biographies, ect..... Basically, I did very little else but work on that paperwork. I have a 3 year old, so I'd stay up every night typing my auto (22 pages)! My husband's was only
(12 pages)! But, then he just graduated with his master's degree a few days prior and was burned out on writing. Basically, I gave him a deadline--one week to have it done!!

Believe me, all the work and sometimes confusion and the wait is completely worth it. Adopting is an amazing experience to go through. Just look at one step at a time and realize in just a few short months you'll be picking up your little one at the airport!

Sarah

[Hearsay]

Hi there! I'm another FAC mom. I'm in the middle of the process. We had a 2 week delay while our SW was on vacation this summer and a month of delay due to a medical issue in our family, but even with the delays, we are on target to have our daughter home around New Years. We filed our application in mid June. So that's 7 months from turning in the big application to airport day.

Yes, the paperwork can be overwhelming. Checklists, an excel spreadsheet, and following the stories of the others on the Yahoo group Sarah mentioned is what ggot me through. If you didn't pm her, send one to me. We'd love to have you join us.

Jennifer
Nathan (bio) - 21mo
Miranda (Chang Soo Mi) - 5/2/04

filed application: 6/19/04
homestudy sent: 8/12/04
referral: 9/30/04
I600 to BCIS: 10/12/04
waiting on visa approval

[SI_Lori]

Hi Dawn

Congrads on starting on this fabulous journey!!

My agency is Wide Horizons for Children so I can't help on the agency thing. But the paperwork.......... Just do each one step at a time. You will get through it all. I got one of those legal size files with six flaps in it and I just kept copies of everything in there.

My daughter came home in June and she is such an adorable doll. It took a little less then a year from application til arrival home. I also have a son who is 3 yrs old and he came home when he was 6 months.

All the best to you!

[dnahewitt]

Just thought I could help out. We had our homestudy visits completed on 9/27/04 and our sw suggested FAC. I had the paperwork by that Thursday and mailed back by the following Tues. We are going to St Paul on friday for our fingerprints and our homestudy will be printed out by tomorrow am. With the conversations we have had with our sw, we should be having a refferal by the end of the year with a baby here anytime between feb and april. So things to move quite fast. We seem to get the paperwork out with in 2-5 days of receiving it ( not eager or anything ).
To keep track of paperwork I have a binder that holds everything. I also bought a blank journal to record the process and the feelings my husband and I have about the journey to bring our baby home. I write it to our child, so that even though we haven't met yet, he/she knows we think of them often.

any questions feel free to pm me

[RKM]

Hi
We are also in Michigan and are using FAC. We are very near the end of the process and I have to say it has been relatively painless! We submitted our formal application with all of the paperwork at the end of June, our home study was completed on July 31 and we received a referral by August 5. Our little boy is due to arrive home sometime in November, before Thanksgiving.

Our social worker was absolutely wonderful and the other people in the FAC office were always helpful.

My advice concerning the paperwork is to not get too stressed about it. I was so worried about answering all of the cross racial/cultural questions, writing the autobiography, etc. that I put off filling out the paperwork for several months because I was so overwhelmed by it. Just get started on it and it will get easier. I finally went ahead and started with the things that I knew I could do relatively quickly and then I felt like I was accomplishing something. That made it easier to keep going. This really is the worst of the paperwork - nothing else you have to fill out after this is very difficult.

I'd be happy to help out with any information I can provide from my experience. Good luck to you and your husband!

Mel

[Korrie Sue]

My husband is making me wait until February before we start the adoption process. He is having a hard time accepting the fact that I am infertile. I guess that is okay...afterall both parents need to be on the same page about adoption.

Anyhow, since I have a couple of months of waiting to do I thought I would get everything ready so that when February rolls around I can immediately turn all our paperwork in. Unforuntately, none of the agencies tell you what paperwork you are going to need until you officially sign up with them. I guess what I am asking is, can anyone give me a heads up on the paperwork I should be getting together right now?

By the way, we are trying to decide between FAC and Bethany.

Thanks

Korrie Sue

[Hearsay]

Hey, Korrie!

Things you can do:

1. round up documentation. Marriage license, birth certificates, drivers license. last 3 years of taxes. Make copies. 2 or 3 of each except the taxes. Just one of those.

2. Round up people to do recommendations for you. 3 nonfamily and 2 employers and 1 from each side of the family.

3. Start on your autobiography. When you're done, you'll have a section about growing up with your family; life with spouse; how you feel about raising children - parenting styles, schooling, religion and whatnot; thoughts on adoption, issues with raising obviously adopted children of another culture; and job and hobbies. When you get your big application, you'll get a double sided sheet full of questions that you can either answer in the autobiography or they will ask during the homestudy.

4. Go to the training sessions at FAC. You will have to do 4 of them total. If you wait, there are other options available in some areas. If you're close to the office, it might be worthwhile to do them now. You both will need to go.

5. join a support group, like the yahoo group teachermom and I (and now dmsteele!) are in.

Why is he waiting until February? Is something big supposed to happen between now and then, aside from the holidays?

Jennifer

[Korrie Sue]

I am going to round up people for my referance letters right now. Do the referance letters have to say anything specific or can the people write whatever they want. Do they have to be on any special paper, have any special signatures, or be of any certain length? So many questions...

Also, the Febuary deadline my husband set is pretty random. He just wants to continue trying to concieve a biological for a few more months before he gives up hope.

Did any of your husbands have a hard time giving up the idea of passing on the family genes?

[HLLB]

Dawn,

It really does depend on how quickly you send your stuff in and how busy your social worker is. Our entire process was only 5 months long: that was from the INITIAL application, not the big one! From the big one, it was 4 months. From completion of homestudy it was only 3 months. From referral, 2.5 months.

Jennifer - what classes do you mean? I never had to go to any FAC classes!