Our Adoption Timeline

So how long does it take to adopt? The amount of time varies for each country. Our timeline was pretty typical for adopting from China, although we were able to shave off a week or two here and there because of our superb organizational skills!

October, 2004 – Knew in our hearts that we wanted to adopt, and that we wanted to adopt from China
Thanksgiving, 2004 – Announced our plans to our families over Thanksgiving
December 7, 2004 – Attended an informational meeting with Bethany, our adoption agency
January-February, 2005 – Completed medical appointments, biographies and other paperwork
February 22, 2005 – Sent in our formal application to Bethany
March 1, 2005 – Formal application approved
March-May, 2005 – Collected employment verification letters, financial statements, references, photos, criminal backgrounds (or lack thereof) and other paperwork
March 14, 2005 – First meeting with Heather, our social worker
March 19, 2005 – Full-day parenting class with other parents
March 21, 2005 – Anne's meeting with social worker
March 22, 2005 – Scott’s meeting with social worker
March 28, 2005 – Home visit with social worker
March 29, 2005 – Home study approval
April 16, 2005 – Anne attended a lifebook class
April 28, 2005 – US Immigration fingerprint appointment in Milwaukee
May 11, 2005 – Received our I-171H form from the US government (approved by the United States to adopt) May 16, 2005 – Met with our social worker for a final review of our application (dossier)
May 26, 2005 – Received State Seals, which verify all notarized paperwork
May 31, 2005 – Dropped off the dossier at Bethany
June 21, 2005 – Dossier sent to China (DTC) (13 documents)
June 29, 2005 – Log In Date (LID) in China (heard on July 11)

Current Stage: Waiting, reading, daydreaming!

Sometime in January or February, 2006 – We'll receive a referral for our daughter, which will include several photos, her age and limited medical information.

Sometime in March or April, 2006 – We'll travel to China with other adoptive families to add our daughter to our family! We'll be gone for about two weeks. We hope to travel to Hong Kong on our own first. We'll then join our travel group in Beijing for a few days, travel as a group to our daughters' province, and then travel to Guangzhou to complete our adoption at the US Consulate.