[sunnysea]

We've put in our application, our fingerprints done, criminal record clear and we have our first interview on Thursday! Finally things are starting to roll. I know it will be a long journey - we can't take the required classes until fall due to my husband's schedule this spring - but it's nice to know the process has finally begun! We are requesting two children age 5 or younger.

[MamaBear2B]

Great news, good luck on your journey? Who are you going through, and how long did they quote you to wait for a referral?

[sunnysea]

Catholic Charities of Chicago - they said it's averaging 9-14 months for a referral but did just have one case where the wait was 2 years - my husband didn't ask if there was an inital refusal of a referral or if the criteria were more specific or what made the wait so long.

We are preparing ourselves for a long wait - and being positive about it - it'll give us more time to get the house in order before the kids get here and our dog will be more mature - she's only 1.5 and very active and strong - she loves kids so much she sometimes knocks them over accidentally so as she starts to mellow she will be able to control her excitement better - we've already seen signs of it.

I can't wait to be a mom!!!

[LHecht]

I'm very happy for you. We started out with Catholic Charities, looking for siblings younger than 11, but as fate would have it, the opportunity to adopt our two wonderful girls from Russia arose the week we completed our homestudy. But we want to go to Poland for #3! Best wishes and I hope things move speedily for you!

[sunnysea]

Update - had our first interview and it went well. We now have to schedule our physicals (I couldn't get in until August 4!!!) and we have to complete the detailed special needs list. After our physicals they will schedule our individual interviews. So I guess my next update won't be until August - that's ok, summer flies!

[sunnysea]

Just thought I'd close out my post - we are no longer adopting from Poland. Through our classes and talking with others we discovered we prefer to adopt from China - many reasons I won't bother you all with - we couldn't be happier. We both feel this is a better fit for us and are very excited.

Good luck to all in the process!