We pushed the button!

February 10, 2008

Chris put on his Lower 9th shirt this morning. I said that is the softest shirt. Where’s the cotton from? Made in Thailand… It’s a sign. We eat Thai food for lunch (kids are still at Mom and Dad’s) and discuss the home study process. We are so excited. We’re at the mall and I want to buy a Gymboree blanket or dress or something for this child we know absolutely nothing about and haven’t even been approved to adopt. Actually, we haven’t applied to adopt! We go to Hallmark to find a Littlekin for Matt and Mark for Valentines Day. He picks up this sippy cup and is looking at it. I look down and low and behold, they have Mia – my favorite girl’s name. I’m just calling the child Little M. I’m guessing I have to resist the urge to shop for a while or he’ll think I’ve lost my mind.

WE PUSHED THE BUTTON!!!! We have officially joined the thousands of hopeful, anxious people who want to be adoptive parents. I guess this puts us in the trying to get “pregnant” part of the adoption process, as we’re not approved yet. I’m too nervous to actually tell anyone yet in case something goes wrong.

After pushing the button, I get to print my application and put it in my binder. I’ve never been so thrilled to file anything!

I also get an email immediately that tells me an intake staff will review it in one to two business days. If all is well, they will mail me an International Adoption Services Agreement. More snail mail! I know that will take 4 days so I should get that Friday or Saturday. I’m going to use UPS to send it back. Go figure!

So how does it feel to push the button??? I’m guessing Chris doesn’t have a clue what’s next. He’ll gladly help when he needs to. My mind is racing with all the millions of things that have to be done. It reminds me of planning our wedding. We have the things that need to be done right away, the things that need to be done during the next month or two. Then the long wait… then the huge rush right before the big day – which in adoption talk – is Gotcha Day. In the meantime, I get to act like nothing big is going on in my life because I’m too freaked out about something going wrong to talk about it possibly all going right. That’s not easy to do! In the meantime, I say a prayer that if Little M is born, she senses that she’s one step closer to home. But I know her foster parents are taking great care of her.

So how does this work? Thailand’s process with Holt is as follows – from the date of application 2/10/08, it takes about 21-24 months to bring the child home – that would be 12/09 to 2/10. In 16-21 months (6/09-12/09), we’ll receive a referral, which will include a picture and medical history of the child. We will review the medical history with a pediatrician and based on all that, agree to accept or not accept the referral. Thailand children adopted through this program have been healthy and well taken care of by their foster family. 3-5 months later we will fly half way around the world to pick her up. While we wait to travel, we will get pictures and medical updates on Little M. We’ll spend about 2 weeks in Thailand. The child will most likely be 14 months – 2 years old when we pick her up. That means she could be born already. When she is born and relinquished by her parents, she’ll live in a foster home until we go pick her up. We will meet Little M a few days into our trip. Thailand puts her in our custody forever three days after we meet her. We have requested a girl even though we think boys are fabulous! Since we got married, I always pictured 2 blonde boys and maybe someday, if all the stars aligned, a small Asian girl.