Hello MOE

As of Tuesday our dossier finally arrived at the Ministry of Education in Aqtobe. Or as I now like to call it, Rocktobe!

Now we just wait for our LOI (Letter of Invitation.) It is supposed to be issued within 8-10 weeks. It comes from the MOE, and will arrive via Andrea’s e-mail. She will then call us to break the news, and bear witness to me either squealing like an 10 year-old who just won front row tickets to Hannah Montana concert, or sniveling like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally when she found out her ex was getting married.

Once we receive the LOI there should be minimal running around besides obtaining our visas, packing and purchasing our plane tickets to leave ASAP. Our packing list is almost all checked off and our travel documents are being apostilled. Once we get them back we will be ready to roll from a paperwork standpoint.

We are "traveling blind," which means that we won't receive a referral before we go. Instead we will meet the available children at the Baby House and decide there. We are asking for either a boy or girl of Asian/Eurasian/Caucasian descent, who is as healthy and as young as possible. (Orphaned children are placed on the Kaz adoption registry for 6 months to find local adoptive parents. Only after they come off the registry are they available for adoption internationally, so we won't meet any children younger than 6 months of age. They are more often closer to 7-9 months.)

Here's how it's all supposed to go down:

1. We fly into Almaty, and are met by an LMI facilitator who assists us until we board a small plane to Aqtobe.
2. We are met in Aqtobe by our driver, facilitator and translator who will all be working with us during our entire stay there.
3. We go to the Baby House as soon as possible. There is usually enough time to first go to our apartment to freshen up.
4. We meet with a representative from the Ministry of Education and the Director of the Baby House, and then they show us the child(ren) available who meet our requests.
5. We let them know which child feels right for us, and we consult with an International Adoption doctor in the US for an evaluation of the child's health information before a final decision is made.
   
6. As required, we spend the next 14 days bonding with our baby by visiting him/her in a playroom at the Baby House twice a day for two hours per visit.
7. After the 14 days are over we are assigned a court date, which should be within about a week. We continue our daily visits during this time.
8. We go to court and the judge (hopefully!) grants our request to adopt. (This happens 99.9% of the time unless you are disrespectful or there is an issue with your paperwork.)
9. After court there is a 15 day appeal period. This is a time during which a family member can contest the adoption, but from what I understand that is an extremely rare occurrence and this appeal period is just a formality. It used to be waived occasionally, but now that rarely happens. Both parents must be present for the court date; however, one parent can leave afterwards. So during this time Frank will fly back home and I will stay in Kaz, continuing the daily visits with our child.
   
10. After the appeal period us over, the child is legally ours and I can take him/her to the apartment! After a couple more days of paperwork and bittersweet goodbye we fly to Almaty.
11. Frank meets us back in Almaty and we spend 3-4 days there completing the US Embassy paperwork. We will have another LMI driver, translator and facilitator assisting us there.
12. We fly our excited, exhausted and homesick selves back home. As soon as we touch down on American soil, our baby is a United States citizen.
13. We hunker down quietly for a couple of weeks, get our bodies in the right time zone, develop a routine, strengthen our bond and gradually introduce our baby to the wild and wonderful world.
14. We all live happily ever after.

Through it all we will remember the Kaz adoption warning label that reads, "Your plan may differ from your reality!"


WHY SO LONG?

The Kaz adoption process is unique as far as the amount of in-country time for the parents. It will be very challenging for us, but it makes for a less stressful transition for the child, which is far more important and can positively impact cognitive development.

One reason we chose Kazakhstan is that the Baby Houses are generally very well run, impeccably kept, and the children are healthy and well cared for relative to other countries. Besides having a high caretaker-to-child ratio, the kids are given "therapy" (music, structured play, massage, etc.) to help them develop. This is a country that deeply loves its children and wants what is best for them.

Despite the excellent facilities and high quality of care, an orphanage environment is still not the same as a good home environment, so we should still expect about one month of developmental delays for every three months in the orphanage. But these kids catch up to their peers very quickly once they are home. Please take a moment to read more great info about Kaz Baby Houses here.


THE COOLEST HOLIDAY

Today is a big holiday in Kaz: International Woman’s Day. This holiday has social and political origins, but has evolved into more of an apolitical holiday that is comparable to Mother’s Day mixed with Valentine’s Day. All women are celebrated and honored with gifts and special treatment. I say right on! We should start celebrating this holiday in the USA (but not forget the socio-political angle too.)

So happy Women's Day -- especially to all the moms out there!


CONGRATULATIONS

Several of our super-supportive blogger friends are on their way to meet, or have recently met their new children! We are so happy for them and are sending our love and best wishes to Sandi, Shannon, Catalina and Calin, Karen and Bob, and Amy! There is also a lot of movin' and shakin' going on with dossiers, which is always good to hear.


I received several more photos of adorable Kaz cuties to add to my February 19 post. Scroll down if you want to smile.

.