| Our Pre-adoption Journal |
| Our Adoption Story |
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| June 2001--Debra begins researching Russian and Ukrainian (at John's suggestion) adoptions and finds Cathy Harris's site, Ukrainianangels.org. She stays up extraordinarily late, even past midnight, reading every single adoption story and the family web sites. She feels good; she feels tired; she does not wait until John has gotten his first cup of coffee before she tells him she has already (on day number two of the research process) found their adoption path. John drinks more coffee, then he reads the site and agrees. August 2001--John and Debra begin collecting documents for the homestudy. They diligently follow the directions on the Independent Ukrainian Adoption Family Network site, adoptukraine.com, and choose a homestudy agency in Chicago, Finally Family. They send in their INS I-600A and fingerprint request forms to begin the whole process.. August, September, October 2001--Football season for Coach Hanlon. The school year is underway, both John (a high school history teacher) and Debra (a high school English teacher--at the same school) dive into the new school year. Debra sees her husband again at the end of October (hyperbole, but nearly true), but she does research and gathers documents in the meantime and continues to submit them to the homestudy agency. End of October 2001--John and Debra get their finger prints taken, get travel shots, secure the county clerk's letter saying they've never been arrested, smile for passport photos. November 2001--The social worker arrives for the homestudy visit. John and Debra submit more documents, write a big check, and tell the social worker how much they love each other. December 2001--The homestudy is submitted to the INS and DCFS, and a copy arrives at John and Debra's house. They notarize everything. Now they contact their adoption advisor, Cathy Harris, and fax their dossier (a big pile of documents inlcuding the homestudy, arrest record, empolyment letters, doctor's letters, etc) to her so she can review it. Cathy gives the Hanlon dossier an A+. They like that, because they know how hard it is to get an A+! January 2002--This is an exciting new year because the Hanlon family will grow in 2002! The whole family is thrilled! The I-171 approval form arrives from the INS. John and Debra have it notarized, faxed to Cathy . . . and then February 2002--John and Debra are introduced, via e-mail, to their Ukrainian translator, Olga whose team will handle the adoption overseas. March 2002--John takes all the documents down to the Secretary of State in Chicago. It's hard to park; the lady messes up a document. The resourceful Hanlons figure out how to fix everything without having to go back to the Secretary of State's office. Everyone is happy. John and Debra Fed Ex the entire, original dossier to their courier in Washington D.C., and send a copy to Olga translator--they write some very big checks. Fed Ex doesn't attach the label on Olga's package; it comes off; the package is returned (once it is found)--the cost is refunded and sent for free as a way of making amends for the mistake. The Hanlons save $73--a great victory for consumers everywhere. John and Debra wait for the National Adoption Center (NAC) to register their dossier and assign an appointment in June so they can make their flight plans. June cannot come quickly enough . . . in the meantime, lots of papers to grade, rooms to paint, furniture to arrange, books to read. April 2002--The Hanlon dossier is registered at the NAC on April 4th. Then they wait and wait and wait for notification of their official NAC appointment date. On April 27th, Debra calls Olga to receive the NAC appointment date of June 14th at 9 a.m. Then the frantic calls to travel agents begins. Olga informs John and Debra that they also need Illinois State Police clearance in addition to the county police clearance in their dossier. They call the ISP, fill out forms and wait. May 2002--Painting, painting, painting, more painting. Grading, grading, grading, more grading. Debra packs up her school room in preparation for her leave of absence. The Illinois State Police clearance forms arrive. All is well. The school year ends. June 2002--John and Debra go to Chicago to authenticate the Illinois State Police clearance forms at the Secretary of State and the Ukrainian Consulate, which becomes a nervewracking trip because the forms were notarized incorrectly. But all is well in the end. John withdraws $15,000 in cash for the Ukraine trip. Wow. We leave for Ukraine on June 12th at 12:36 p.m. from O'Hare. |
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