Finally an update!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 tnguyen308 0 Comments

Let's flashback to August 2013. We sent our completed dossier with the first payment to our agency back in August 2013. We were excited and thrilled that we were taking steps to bringing our baby girl home. After the agency sent our dossier to Austin to be apostilled, we received a call from the agency director with concerns on the wait time for Moldova. Her concern was that Moldova was moving slow in processing the children in the orphanage due to their lack of staff. She gave us a couple options: 1) An agency coordinator would be visiting Moldova and the orphanages for a month and we can wait to hear back from the coordinator for the condition of things 2) Look into their China Special Needs program, where there isn't a long wait but the children have minor to major special needs. After much discussion, research and prayer, we decided to wait to hear back from the coordinator but in the mean time, look into their other program in Bulgaria and Domestic Adoption. As much as we want to help a child with special needs, we don't feel like it's a responsibility we can take on, especially for our first child.

After a month had passed, we heard back from the director again and she let us know that the agency coordinator was going to speak to the ministry again after the 27th of October to get more feedback and hopefully we'll know more then. It seems like they are moving children, just a slower pace than anticipated. While I had the director on the phone, I was able to ask her about the other programs they offer and to give us a better idea of choices we need to make after the 27th.

Yet another month had passed and we had more time to think and pray. We decided that we didn't want to wait to hear back any longer, we were ready with our decision to move forward with Moldova, no matter the wait. It was right before the holidays that we told our agency our decision and we thought we were ready to move forward. Boy, was I wrong. We were informed that the Ministry now required two sets of original dossiers instead of one. No sweat! When we had our first set done, I made sure I had a second original done in case our paperwork got lost or they required another set. Roadblock #1 was taken care of. Then, right before Christmas, our agency emailed us saying we need originals of our employment verification, medical information and marriage license. Roadblock #2! It took us a little time to gather all that information; I even hired a mobile notary to go to my doctor's office with me.

We finally mailed off the rest of the paperwork in February. The agency then sent dossier #2 and the new documents to Austin to be apostilled.

Now, I'm happy to say our completed dossier is en route to Moldova. They should receive it on March 28. It will first be translated then sent to the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family to be processed. Translating our documents takes about 2-3 weeks, but the timeline once it goes to the Ministry is a bit fuzzy. During processing, one of two things can happen; 1) Correct this document and send it back or 2) Consider this match. We're hoping for the latter of the two.

We're hoping time flies during this process!