[KerryGaeltacht]

Ok, we have the timeline our agency gave us, from the start of homestudy to a referral.
BUT -- what is the real timeline ? Surely, the one they gave us can't be right. (or can it?)
Can anyone tell me how long from start to finish your experience was ?

Thanks.

[MN_Mom]

Kerry,

I think the wait time varies quite a bit from what I have noticed. A lot of it depends on the range of ages/number of siblings you are hoping for, but a lot of it really is just circumstantial (from our experience).

We submitted out final dossier to Poland in April 2006 requesting one healthy child (with minor health problems ok) under age 5. During that time we saw a fair number of referrals (5 total). We recently accepted a referral for an 8 year old boy and plan to travel in February 2009.

Other stats that may or may not have affected our wait time: we are not Polish, we are Catholic, we already have one bio son at home.

Feel free to pm me if you have any other questions about what happened between April 2004 and now - I haven't posted much about the referrals that we did not accept, but would be happy to talk about them off-line if you are interested.

~sarah

[lastpaige]

We asked for 2 siblings of the same sex with minor problems between the ages of 4 and 10. My husband is a native of Poland and fluent which put us in the 'B' pile.

Jan 5, 2006 Signed with facilitator
Apr 28, 2006 Dossier shipped w/homestudy report
May 10, 2007 Received referral

Yes, timelines differ WIDELY. I know of families who's referrals were almost instantaneous, and families who waited two years.

[momraine]

We were nine months from start to finish, but we were adopting a pre-identified child (very, rare and not the normal way) with a severe handicap. Though we too are not Polish or Catholic.

[mschaefer]

You can see our timeline in my signature. We requested 1-2 children younger than our son and we were open to physical impairments. Our son was 3 y.o. at the time we signed with the agency and 4.5 when we received our referral.

We have Polish heritage, we are Catholic. We received only 1 official referral during that year -- and we accepted it

[mama08]

Requested 1 or 2 reasonably healthy child/ren under the age of 3.
dossier in Poland 1/07
son's referral 11/07
travel 12/07
home 2/08

We were told anytime after 3 months of dossier acceptance. Our home study was completed 2 months before the dossier was completed.

[LisArno]

We requested 2 or 3 children (at least one boy and one girl) under the age of 5. We had quite a few "would you consider..." but the children were quite a bit older, all boys, and in one case, a sibling group of four. We waited about two years and then accepted the referral for a 10, 4, and almost 3 year old (2 girls and a boy). We have no Polish heritage, and only my husband is Catholic.

[jessipea]

We started the process in October 2005
Home Study November 1, 2005
Dossier submitted in late APril 2006
First Referral July 2006 - turned down
Second Referral Novemeber 2006 - turned down
Third and successful Referral - Feb 2007
Visit for the first time - March 2007
10 day bonding period June/July 2007
Home August 2007

Little less than two years, but it could have been shorter if the first referral was successful...please feel free to e-mail me (I rarely check messages here)

blog: Jessilane.typepad.com