Verners

The China adoption process is divided into several lengthy stages. The 1st step is to complete a home study. We’ve been working through this process for 3 months and should be able to wrap things up by next week!! Next we’ll begin to assemble a collection of documents called a Dossier. These documents go through several levels of certification and ultimately are used as the legal framework for our adoption. The Dossier stage is referred to as the ‘paper chase.’ It will take a couple of months to finish. Once our Dossier is completed, it is forwarded to the adoption agency (America World) to be reviewed to ensure accuracy. After that it’s forwarded to the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) for translation and processing. The CCAA oversees all adoption-related activity in China. It maintains a database with information on children from over 200 orphanages.

After our Dossier is logged by the CCAA, we’ll begin stage two – the waiting stage. The process of matching a family with a child is called a referral, and most families wait 12+ months for a match. The referral is composed of a medical profile of our daughter, a brief biography of her (if available) and at least one photograph. Once we accept the referral, we begin planning our trip to China (the final phase of the adoption process). We will leave for China about 6-8 weeks after we receive the referral, and will be in China for two weeks. While we’re there we’ll complete the adoption paperwork, meet our child(!!), and tour some of China’s rich cultural sights.

One question – where does the time go?  Our little Levi has grown up right under our noses.  We had a “grown up” conversation on the way to school today and talked mostly about what’s important in life.  It was the kind of talk I always wanted to have with him but now that it’s here I’m definitely grieving the loss of that little boy who needed me so much.  Levi is starting have his own views and opinions and he has a confidence about him that wasn’t apparent only a year ago.  I know this is all inevitable, but I do think I will be like many of the older people we all know who tear up even at the mentioned of their kids when they were young.  It almost happened to me today.

This post marks the official announcement of our adoption to China.  We’re about 3 or so months into the process with about a year (+) to go.  We’re already so excited to meet our daughter.  I’m not sure how we’ll actually get through a year of waiting! We’ve been getting the question lately – “why China?” 

There are many reasons we chose to adopt from China.  First, there is a huge need there.  China’s “one-child” policy has created over 500,000 orphans – mostly girls.  They come from the poorest rural sections of China where parents cannot pay the fees required to have a second child.  We watched a great DVD on this problem recently from National Geographic that I highly recommend called China’s Lost Girls.  It provides a fairly comprehensive description of the problem there.  If you’re interested in this topic, ask us to borrow the video or get it at Amazon –
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000784WOK/102-9925349-0660956?v=glance&n=130.  I’m sure Netflicks has it as well.  I’ve posted a picture below in case you want to make sure you have the right program… 

A second reason we’ve chosen China is that we REALLY want a girl.  Due to complex cultural biases in China, over 90% of the orphans there are girls.  When we originally decided to adopt we considered a domestic adoption.  That was prior to hearing that baby girls are the most desired “baby-type” here in the U.S.  We wanted to adopt a child who might not have a loving home otherwise, so we decided against a U.S. adoption for that reason.  There are of course other less tangible reasons…spiritual reasons.  For some reason Crissy and I are sure that God is leading us in this direction.  As long as we’ve been thinking about adopting, China has been on our minds.  We are sure that God has an amazing blessing in store for our family. 

I guess lastly is due to an (new found) interest we have in China.  Its rich cultural tradition will be fun to learn about.  In fact, we are serious about learning about China and have been reading books with the kids and on our own.  (On a side note, check out the “What we’re listening to” page and you’ll find a 25 disc biography on Mao on my listening list!)
Well, that’s it for the introduction.  Please check back to find out more as we chronicle the long and tedious process of adopting internationally.

  

20060812_174347-26, originally uploaded by verners.

This is probably my favorite photo from last weekend with John. As many of you know we’re getting together all of the paperwork and documents for our adoption to China.  One of the requirements is to send eight pages of photos that will be reviewed by the agency in China that will ultimately match us with our new baby girl!!!!

More to come on all of this in future posts.

Any exceptional photo of our family has been taken by my friend John Watson.  If you’re looking for a great photographer with a knack for capturing moments then I’d highly recommend John!

To see his work, go to our flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/verners/

John is based in southern California and is available for photography sessions anywhere in the Los Angeles, Orange counties and surrounding areas.  San Diego if you beg! 

Email: john@lightproofbox.com
Phone: 1-816-352-2397

Well I guess it’s finally time to chronicle the journey of our small, happy little family.  I don’t expect anyone will read this except a couple of friends who are savvy enough to get a feed when I update this thing every few months. 

I’d like to thank a few people before we begin… Thanks to John for setting this blog up, to Dave for encouraging me to write, to Crissy and my boys who will be my primary inspiration for these sporadically written posts.  And thanks to you if you are one of the few people who end up reading this.

Grace & Peace.