We have a city!

I have to admit, things are moving along faster than I expected. We received word this past week, that our dossier has been reviewed, and will be released to go to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It will be registered with the Uralsk Region - so we finally know which part of Kazakhstan we will be going to! (If you're trying to find it on the map, it's in the North West part of the country.) After the dossier is registered in the city, a letter of invitation will be requested. We are now waiting for a travel package from the agency, with details about Uralsk and new visa applications. Hopefully we'll know in a few weeks when we'll be able to travel - but we do know it won't be until the new year. This means I can start making my lists and getting organized for the trip - not that I haven't been planning this for the past year!

The dossier is in Kazakhstan!

That's right - our dossier has finally made it to Kazakhstan! It left the consulate in Toronto on October 16, and after travelling to Memphis TN, Frankfurt, and then to Almaty KZ, it made its way to Astana Kazakhstan October 22. I thought it would take longer to actually arrive. I also hope Fed Ex doesn't keep track of how often I checked the tracking number - I was on the computer every couple of hours following our package around the world! Now the real waiting begins. In the meantime, we can continue putting the room together for our child - we're so excited!

The process so far....

Here's a "quick" timeline of what we've accomplished so far...

October 2, 2006 - requested an information package from the agency and began researching countries to adopt from

November 3 - 5, 2006 - attended the educational seminar "Creating Families Through International Adoption" presented by CAFAC

November 5, 2006 - registered to work with the agency by signing a contract and paying the agency registration fee

November 14, 2006 - received information regarding preparation of a homestudy package. The information had to be prepared and sent to the agency before a Social Worker could be assigned to our case. We had to each complete an autiobiography, a questionnaire, a medical form completed by our physician, prior contact and child abuse checks, criminal record checks, and four reference letters from friends (which were sent directly to the agency). It was challenging to decide who to ask for the reference letters. We wanted to include friends that had known each of us separately, as well as those who know us only as a couple. A HUGE THANK YOU to our wonderful friends who took the time to help us by participating in this process!

January 5, 2007 - sent our homestudy package to the agency, and a Social Worker was assigned to our case

January 27, 2007 - we received a package to prepare a dossier for Kazakhstan. The preparation of the dossier occurred at the same time as our homestudy with the Social Worker

February 15, 2007 - our first meeting with the Social Worker

February 16, 2007 - had our fingerprints taken and sent to Ottawa for a Canadian Wide Search

February 20, 2007 - another meeting with our Social Worker

April 18, 2007 - we sent in our part of the dossier!!
The documents we needed to collect included our original passports, marriage certificate, fingerprint search certificates, (another) medical report, statement of net worth (listing all assets and liabilities), a Notice of Assessment, a letter from our employers, proof of property ownership, photographs of ourselves, our family, our house, our neighborhood and city, Powers of Attorney and letters of Application and Obligation. Some of the forms we had to have notarized, and some were notarized once the agency had the documents.

May 15, 2007 - met with the Social Worker to sign the Homestudy Report

May 30, 2007 - dossier was sent to Manitoba Family Support to obtain a Provincial Letter Of Approval

June 20, 2007 - our dossier was sent to Foreign Affairs (in Ottawa) for Legalization

July 9, 2007 - the dossier was sent for translation into Russian

August 9, 2007 - our dossier was sent to the Kazakhstan Consulate in Toronto to be authenticated

September 19, 2007 - we sent in our Sponsorship Application to Immigration Canada

October 11, 2007 - received our Sponsorship Approval letter from Immigration

Our Story

I've started this as a way to keep family and friends updated on our adoption, and the lengthy process involved. I hope to have this "blog thing" figured out, so that when we travel to Kazakhstan to meet our child, I can post daily pictures and journal entries. I have found posts from other families who have shared their Kazakhstan experience to be an invaluable source of information and inspiration.

Dave and I met on a blind date, and were married 1 year later, on March 3, 2001. We both always wanted to have a family. After years of trying numerous expensive fertility medications, undergoing countless invasive tests and painful medical procedures, we started looking into adoption.

I researched the various adoption agencies in Manitoba. We were told it could take up to 12 years for a domestic adoption, so we began to focus our research on international adoptions.

I requested an information package from CAFAC (Canadian Advocates for the Adoption of Children). They are inter-country adoption specialists, with offices in Manitoba and Alberta. They were hosting an educational seminar on international adoption the following month, so we registered to attend. The information presented at the seminar was overwhelming at times. International adoption is definately not something to pursue without careful consideration of all that is involved in the process. At the end of the second day, there was a parent panel - four couples and their children from four different countries. After hearing their stories, they joined us for supper. Dave and I had been considering adopting form Kazakhstan, and were lucky enough to sit with a couple who had adopted a boy and a girl from Kazakhstan. The children (who were now school age) were beautiful, intelligent and happy. After asking the parents as many questions as we could think of about their experience, travel, and stay in the country, we had a long discussion about our feelings regarding adoption. It was something we both had a strong desire to pursue, so on November 5, 2006, we signed the papers to register with CAFAC and begin our adoption journey.