When are they coming home?

June-ish.

We really don't know when R & S will be able to come home, but our best guess is sometime in June. (Note: to protect the children, we're not going to use their full names on the blog.) 

Here's a recap of the process to date:

• Apply to adoption agency - September 2011
• Begin homestudy -  October 2011
• Homestudy complete - March 2012
• Officially register with the Ministry of Justice in Bulgaria - June 2012
• Wait to be matched with a child or children.
• Update homestudy - July 2013
• Wait some more.
• Receive a referral - January 8, 2014
• First trip to Bulgaria to meet the children - February 23 to March 1, 2014

In between the first and second trip, there are several things that have to happen before we can bring them home. First, we have to receive an I800 approval and Article 5 approval. Those are both from the U.S. government (one from Immigration, one from the U.S. Embassy in Sofia), approving R and S to immigrate from Bulgaria to the U.S. We received both of those approvals very quickly, thanks to our agency, which seems to be very on top of all the paperwork and the process.

Next, we wait for the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice to approve the adoption. Hopefully that will happen by mid-April and before any Easter holidays. Then, we have to get court approval in Bulgaria to adopt them. Once the court decree is issued (hopefully mid-May), we can schedule the trip to bring them home!

There is much to do to get ready - fundraising, getting the house ready, and just preparing the family for this huge change. So, we're keeping busy, but we do still miss them and are very thankful for the opportunity to Skype with them every Friday.

About Us and the Adoption

We (Todd and Lisa) talked about adoption even before we were married. We agreed that it was something we would do...one day. And that day is finally here!

Background

We met and got married in Atlanta, Georgia and our son was born there. When he was five months old, we moved to Richmond, Virginia for Todd to begin work on a PhD in clinical psychology. Lisa worked full time and life was pretty hectic. While we lived in Richmond, our daughter was born. We continued to talk about adoption as something we would do when life became more settled.

When our children were 4 and 1, we moved to Minneapolis for Todd to do an internship as part of his PhD requirements. We weren't sure what to expect since we would only be there for a year and it seemed so far away from what we knew, but we loved Minneapolis and quickly felt at home there.

After completing his dissertation and internship, Todd was able to find a full-time job as a staff psychologist at a VA hospital...back in Virginia. We began to settle here and talked again about adoption, but first we needed to get our finances in order. Todd was blessed to complete graduate school without any debt, but we were still in no position to begin funding an adoption. We worked to cut our expenses and Todd took on extra work teaching for Liberty University. Finally, we were ready!

Starting the Process

We began the paperwork for the adoption in the fall of 2011. We knew we wanted to do an international adoption and had several countries in mind. Bulgaria seemed like the best fit. Todd had been there 3 times to teach, so he was familiar with the country, and they had a good, solid, Hague-accredited program. We applied, were approved, and we waited.

The Children

Our social worker called on January 8, 2014 and we assumed it was just a check-in call since we weren't expecting a referral until the summer. We were shocked to learn that she had our referral! We were matched with a brother (age 5) and sister (age 6) in a small village in Bulgaria. Our first trip would be at the end of February and we would arrive in Bulgaria on Lisa's birthday.

Next Steps

We had a wonderful first trip and hope to go back to Bulgaria to bring the children home in June. In the meantime, we are getting our house ready and working to raise the $25,000 we need to complete the adoption.