Getting an approved home study in the first big hurdle in adopting, domestically or internationally! We asked around for several referrals and landing with an agency that has offices here in Champaign. Lifelink International adoption services are amazing! We called and were able to get the process started in a couple weeks!
The homestudy was going to consist of several in person meetings, jointly and separately. We met with Diane starting mid-November. We instantly knew she was going to be a great fit for us. So by December we were done with all the meetings. It was fun when she came to our home to "interview" our kiddos. She immediately loved them and they had her cracking up within minutes! (Thank goodness the belching that occurs on a regular basis was halted for the meeting!)
We had one hiccup along the way! There are several clearances we need. One particular clearance was called CANTS (Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System). It took 10 weeks!! Last year at this time the clearance took 24-48 hours. We were frustrated but we know our God has this!
So we finally got clearances and after the homestudy was written, our training completed (Yes, training. Lots and lots of hours learning how to deal with traumatized kids and Chinese culture), we were finally ready to send to the state for final approval. We new another agonizing wait would happen here. It is really hard to be patient. Especially knowing a little girl is in China waiting for a mommy and a daddy!
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