Saturday, August 7, 2010

Paperwork

Last week we were officially accepted by Carolina Adoption Services and got our first packet of paperwork. My first reaction when I looked at it was to leave the house. So I did. I came back to it later and started filling it out, then I left it again. The next day Tabb and I worked on it together, and now it is feeling less overwhelming. The key thing is to do it one step at a time.
Here’s what’s included in the first round of paperwork:
  • Basic family information
  • Education and work history
  • Discuss your values and beliefs
  • Organizations to which you belong
  • Activities you enjoy separately
  • Activities you enjoy together
  • Childcare plans
  • Plans for preserving your child’s cultural heritage
  • Preparations for international adoption
  • Information on our parents and siblings
  • References
  • Our autobiographies
  • Various legal documents to sign
  • Financial and tax statements
  • Birth certificates, marriage certificate
  • Photos of us and our house
  • Proof of life insurance (we need to get some)
  • Proof of health insurance
  • Guardianship letter (who would care for our child if something happened to us)
Right now we are working on our autobiographies.

2 comments:

  1. Okay....so.....I LOVE the title of your blog!! I LOVE it!
    It is hard to be non-Christian in the Ethiopian adoption community..ha!
    I have added your blog to Ethiopian Adoption Blogs. Thanks for the kind words and support!

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  2. I like the title too. Just yesterday my wife was remarking on how many times people ask us if we are Christian based on learning that our son was adopted from Ethiopia.

    When we adopted our daughter domestically, we rejected at least one agency because we felt they essentially required us to be evangelical Christian. We thought either we would need to lie, or would be discriminated against, so we went elsewhere.

    In the end we did use a Christian agency, (AAI, Michigan) but felt they served all faiths. It is nice to hear that you have found a secular agency.

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