Adoption in 4 Not-So-Easy Steps

Our journey leading to this point has been filled with documents, more documents, and then some more paperwork. In the U.S., to adopt internationally, you must meet your state’s adoption requirements, get federal approval, and also get approval from the country you are adopting from. There are a few crucial documents and approvals I want to highlight:

1) Home Study. In the context of international adoption, I would re-term it a “life study”. Four interviews of more than an hour each, asking about everything from proposed parenting techniques to financial health to, yes, how your home is fit for children. This was done by our local agency, and the process started a little over a year ago. We had ours completed and signed around the end of 2017.

2) State and Federal approval. In our state, getting approval to adopt (it’s the same whether it’s domestic or international) requires a completed home study and 24 hours of education. Once that’s done, you apply for USCIS approval, which is only necessary for international adoptions. We received USCIS approval around April.

3) The Dossier. A dossier is a collection of documents that is sent to the foreign country’s adoption approval authority that represents your application and all necessary attachments. The checklist includes 28 diverse documents, including an official application to Colombia’s family welfare department, family photos, reference letters and even a psych evaluation. Once your dossier is approved, you have been given permission by that country to adopt one or more children from their adoption system. It took a few months to finish assembling ours, and we submitted it around the end of August.

4) Matching. This step, which happens after dossier approval, is the country’s formal recognition that you are adopting a specific child (or children). This can happen either because you requested a child that is on the waiting child list, or through their agency finding a child based on the criteria specified in your home study. Matching is the final approval step. After that, it takes a few months to make travel arrangements, and you travel to go get your kiddo(s).

Currently we are waiting on step 3. In another post, I’ll explain what it took to get the dossier assembled, and how grateful we are that ours is finally submitted. For now, we wait!