Our First Approval

Well, it’s not a very difficult one to get, but it still feels good to know that we are a little further along the way! We got an email from the Alberta Children & Youth Services saying that we would receive our approved International Adoption Application back in the mail shortly. This means that the province gives us permission to become an adoptive family. Next major step: register with our Albertan agency.

A Big Step

What a great day we had yesterday! The ceremony was very simple and touching, the weather was perfect and we had a good time with our witnesses and their gorgeous little boy. In addition to that, I got married to the single most awesome man on the planet. What else could a girl want?

I Do!

We’re getting married tomorrow, after 10 years together...
This is the place we picked to do the ceremony, not too bad!

Criminal Record Check

We just came back from getting our fingerprints taken at the local RCMP station. It was about $100 for both of us. They got us to fill forms and they will run checks on both of us. The lady told us our reports should be available on Tuesday, August 9, for us to pick up. We felt like criminals when they actually took the prints :)
Sri Lanka also requires an Interpol check, in case we have committed crimes outside of Canada. We are still trying to figure out exactly how to get that... We have our original fingerprints, I think we have to send them by mail to the RCMP in Ottawa. But I don’t know if they require some other form as well...

Chinese Wisdom

I found this in a Chinese cookie, last week... It has got to be a sign! (It only says south, but I’m sure it means to the south AND across the globe!)

Note to Self

We’re only just getting started with the process. I know it will be long. I know there will be times when our hope supplies grow short. Sometimes, we’ll feel like the Universe is against us, or we’ll be convinced our government, Sri Lankan officials or anybody slowing the process down is actively trying to prevent us from getting our little one. I know there will be ups and downs, and a lot of tears (I am a cry baby, and proudly assume it).

So right here, in front of you all, I want to deliver a message for my future self:
Try to remember that all this heavy process is only there to protect the children. And never forget why you’re going through all this. This little creature who will one day call you Maman is certainly worth it all. Just keep your eyes on the goal and keep trucking!

Why Sri Lanka?

Picking a country of origin for your future child is not an easy task. And when you start looking at the adoption process, you quickly realize it has to be pretty close to step one! You need a country to pick your agency and get registered. In Alberta, the name of the country has to appear on the International Adoption Application, which is the first form you have to send out. So apart from getting married, there’s not much we could do without this crucial step.
Still, it has a lot of implications! It will determine your child’s race and cultural background, of course, but also your political instability exposure, the risk for certain health issues, the duration of the process, the age of the child, and many more aspects.
So here is how Pablo and I did it:
A- We found a list of countries at http://www.familyhelper.net/ad/chooser.html. The list is not completely up to date, but it was a good starting point for us
B- We wrote down all the countries and researched the requirements to adopt. A lot of agencies have a web site where the requirements are listed. For the countries we could not find info on, we sent out emails to the agencies.
C- We rated each country as follows:
1, if we met all the requirements (or could meet them in a few weeks by getting married)
2, if we could meet the requirements in a few years (e.g. minimum 2 years of marriage, age requirement, waiting lists overcrowded)
3, if there was a major show stopper (e.g. minimum 10 years of marriage, country currently closed to adoption, children significantly older than what we were hoping for)
D- We were lucky enough to have 4 countries that were ranked as 1. We did some more research on health, political and process issues and narrowed it down to 2 preferences: Sri Lanka and the USA.
E- We contacted agencies and met with them to gather as much information as we could. In the end, it really came down to a feeling... Both countries have pros and cons, and we felt like both programs were equally interesting. This made the decision more difficult, but it means we have a strong plan B!
According to our agency in Ontario (yes, we have two agencies... I’ll explain that later), Sri Lankans that are available for international adoption are 4 months old and up and babies less than a year old are not a rare occurrence. The waiting time is up to 2 years and involves one trip of 4 to 6 weeks.
We love to travel and a long stay in such a far away land is far from deterring us: we’re actually pretty excited about it!