Requests

I emailed our agency last night about our concerns re: head circumference. Asked them for updated measurements and requested that they request a developmental skills assessment test. Haven't heard back from them.

Saw on a forum that I frequent that other families that submitted their LOI (letter of intent) the same day as us received their PA (pre-approval) today. Still thinking that we have like a 3% chance of China approving us for this adoption due to my "health issues" - chronic hypertension.

I feel more at peace about all Grant's medical stuff today. Eric and I have said all along that we didn't know if we were ultimately going to be Grant's forever family -- but that we felt we should walk down this path and see where it takes us. God has a plan and it will be revealed to us in time.

LOI to agency

We drafted our LOI (Letter of Intent) to CCAA (China) seeking pre-approval to adopt Grant. We also submitted three photographs of our family.

I emailed the letter to our agency - who will then translate our LOI and submit it electronically to CCAA. We have been told that it could be a few days to several weeks before we hear on our PA.

I am still very nervous about getting rejected; although our agency seems to think we will receive a waiver. Time will tell.

Still praying for God's guidance in this process. Praying that God will open doors for us if this is to be and get the waiver granted.

Agency Application

Told the agency yesterday. We submitted our agency application today.

Received auto-response - agency contact is out of the office until Monday...of course.

Contact from Agency

Well, even though I told myself to forget this one - that I didn't feel comfortable with all the risk. I can't stop thinking about Grant. I have prayed so many nights while laying in bed. I'm not sure if I even get more than a few hours of sleep because I just lay there praying. Last night I specifically asked God to show me clearly if we should pursue this adoption.

Three things happened - and I'm not saying that each of these was from God -- but I'm not saying that they weren't either.

1. The agency contact reached out to me this morning. Her email was so kind and not pushy at all as I remember the last one being. She simply asked if we were still considering this child and if she could answer any more questions for us. So of course I went back and read her last email to us - the one where I thought she was pushy - and realized that she wasn't being pushy at all and actually answered all of our previous questions.

2. I also specifically prayed about the age difference between Ashley and Grant. While Eric and I are open to adopting out of birth order - we did not want them in the same grade. I prayed that I would feel peace about this should it happen and prayed for wisdom about this. I was searching our school districts website for enrollment dates to make sure that I was right that Grant would be one year ahead of Ashley should we get him soon and he be able to start Kindergarten on time - when I found a blessing. Our school district is the only one in the state of Texas that has a Chinese/English bilingual Kindergarten program. WOW! So if we can get him home and get him in this program he will still be able to stay one year ahead of Ashley. I have chills. I know the transition could go badly and he may not be able to start school when we hope that he can - but this at least gives us some possibility of it happening.

3. This is totally dumb - I know. But I was reading about adopting older children on a well known blog and all of the posts were from one writer -- there were about 20 posts -- and the writer's name is Grant. So dumb - I know - I'm not saying it's a "sign". But just one more thing today that is putting Grant in front of me.

So I am emailing the agency contact back - asking for her thoughts on if he would be able to enter a Chinese/English Kindergarten when we get him home. Not expecting much of an answer b/c I know it is so dependent on each specific child....but we'll see what she has to say.

Grant's File

The agency contact responded and sent us Grant's file. We have about 6 pages of various medical check-ups and we also have a 2 page document on all the things he can do (dress himself, recite poetry, hop on one foot, etc). We also received about 6 photos of him. None are baby photos.

I responded to her with our 3 rather serious questions.

1. What are our chances of getting approved? Is agency willing to hold off on collecting fees until we receive approval?

2. How long is it from the day we tell you 'yes' from the day we bring him home? We are concerned about a long wait and that pushing school back and then him and Ashley being in the same grade.

3. What is your side of the story regarding the news expose? What happens if you lose your accreditation to place children? What happens to our adoption should you go out of business?

Received a response the next day. I felt that the responses were not adequate and were kind of pushy. Told myself to forget it. I just felt uneasy. Told Eric the same thing.

Scary Stuff

Being the psycho internet sleuth that I am - I have been trying to find any info that I can on "our" agency. Well, what I found wasn't good. Apparently they were featured on a television program in another country and not in a good light. Unethical behavior in one of their country programs. While this program is not the China program -- and while I'm not sure how you can ever know whose side the truth lies on - it still concerns me. I don't want to work with an agency that may or may not be ethical.

Contacted Agency

Although we still aren't sure if this is what God is calling us to do, we have contacted the agency that holds Grant's file to get some more information from them.

The lady that we contacted is out of the office on vacation until October 6th. Man, that seems like forever to get some more information. China has specific requirements that adoptive parents must meet. We do not meet two of those rules. In some instances they are willing to waive the requirements for waiting children (SN). We emailed the agency contact to see what she thought our chances of getting approved are. We will continue to pray about this child.

Agency Lists

There are two routes to take when adopting internationally - which is what Eric and I think we would do should we decide to adopt. You can select an agency who will then match you with a child or you can search for your child on your own by scouring several lists and then going with the agency that has your child on their list.

Since we are no where near deciding on adoption I thought I would get access to a few agency lists - just to see what it's all about. I have access to about 5 agency lists and have been looking at the kids frequently. Mainly I look at orphans in China...little girls. None of the kids have really jumped out at me. I have access to the waiting children lists (special needs). In China the wait for a NSN (non-special needs) referral is approaching 4 years. That is forever long - and if we decide to adopt I do not want to wait that long. Many of the children on these lists have very minor special needs or are considered waiting children because they are above the age of 3.