An Adoption Update

Here is an update on our adoption. There is a lot here, so I hope it is easily readable and not to difficult to follow. Over the last few weeks we have worked on signing and helping others be aware of the petition to help lift the suspension on exit letters, received a couple new photos of our son, an update on how he is doing, and an update on how our court case is going.

(Image Credit to http://www.petition2congress.com/)

First of all I am so grateful to everyone that signed and/or shared the petition to help lift the suspension on exit letters from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am so grateful for all of my friends and family who have been so supportive!! I love you all! If you have yet to sign the petition Click Here. For me it took several minutes to complete, but I have heard it can take less than 2 minutes.

Most important of all we received a couple new photos and an update on how our handsome little dude is doing. He is getting so tall!! I felt as though this was the cleanest he had been in any of the photos we have received of him. Plus, I finally remembered to ask what language he speaks. Even though the official/government language is French there are over 200 different languages, and most people do not speak French in non formal/official settings.  I don’t know why I continued to forget to ask what language he spoke, but I finally did find out that he speaks Swahili. Also, I have asked before if he is told that he is being adopted, but up until now the lawyer has said he was too young to really understand. I found out that the orphanage tells the children that “they will travel to be with their forever families”, so when he plays with his friends he says “someday I will travel”. I can’t imagine what a shocking experience it is going to be for him to have to leave his birth home/country, birth family, and friends to come be home with us. I hope that as he is turns four years old soon he will be able to begin to understand a little of what to expect over the next couple of years of his life. He is constantly in our thoughts and prayers throughout our day, and I frequently find myself praying for his safety and courage.

Also, I wanted to let everyone know that we are waiting on final judgment in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the court case of the adoption of our son. After which there will be a waiting period up to 30 days for the birth parents to finalize or cancel the adoption. Then we will submit the last bit of paperwork which could take up to 4 weeks. During that time we will submit final approval to immigration (USCIS) which could take up to 6 weeks. Then we will most likely have to endure an investigation that could take up to 6 months. After that time Jason and I will travel to go get our son (once exit letters are being issued again) which could take up to 4 weeks.  During that time we will most important of all be bonding and getting to know our son, have an embassy appointment, have visas issued, submit paperwork to DGM, and finally have the DGM exit letter issued. Then at that point we will return home and be united as a family! Once here we will adopt him in the U.S. courts and follow all post placement adoption tasks. I am pretty nervous about the travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and any adoptive parents that have been to the DRC before and have any advice on what to expect I would appreciate it very much.

One more little thing... I have told our son’s birth name to many of my family and friends and just a friendly reminder to not share his name in comments or posts as it is still private, since he is not legally adopted into our family although he has already been adopted into our hearts. Also, just in case anyone was wondering, his birth name will be the name he has once he is home with us. We may give him a middle name, and he will take on our last name.

We are still hoping that this will all happen during this summer, but if any of you are good at math it may be more accurate to say by the end of this year or beginning of next he will be home with us in his forever family. Please continue to pray for our family or keep us in your thoughts! I am again thankful for the all of the support of family and friends. I love you all so much!

Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net