Spinning wheels

The last couple of weeks we haven't made much visible progress in adoption. As soon as we think we're going to do something to move forward, we find out we have to redo a document or a notarized signature, or nail down details of fundraising.

We're still mainly waiting for life insurance to get finalized (it's in the hands of the underwriters) and our I171-H to come (there are 50 applications in front of ours). Why does the government seem to move so slowly? People in Indiana frequently get their I171-H back in 10-14 days after being fingerprinted. We're being told about 6 weeks, which means 3-4 to go. I've called and emailed a few times each week, just to help with incentive, but I don't have much confidence that it will do anything. But, what else is there to do but be so annoying that the person just does the work as quickly as possible?

Our agency also increased the wait times for referrals by a couple of months, which is discouraging, but out of our control, as is everything. They now say 5-9 months after turning in your dossier. So, hopefully we can get our paperwork in during April then get a referral by the end of the year and travel shortly after that.

This baby will be overly welcome when it finally gets here! I just have to keep reminding myself this is actually for a baby, not just a hypothetical 'adoption.'