CJs Daddy

I haven’t done one of those nifty FAQ posts in a while, so I’m thinking it’s high time I hope ya’ll don’t mind - I will try to make it less dry than what you might find in the back of your VCR manual. This also allows me to do a dry run for the many friends and family that aren’t really blog savvy.

The most common question any potential adoptive parent hears is, “when will you be able to bring her home?” I totally expected this, but I must say that I really enjoy being able to say - “about 2-3 weeks.” Imagine how cool it will be when I have an actual date to throw out!

1) So, what exactly are you waiting for now and why?

We’re literally waiting for a DNA test to confirm what we all know to be true. That Carmen is really Carmen. You may recall that early in the process, Carmen’s DNA was tested along with the woman who relinquished her for adoption, ensuring that she really is her mother. The US Embassy started requiring this step late last Summer in response to a few unscrupulous facilitators that were finding their way around this first DNA test. This is getting wordy, so I’ll hold off any commentary, but let’s just say by instituting this requirement, the embassy pretty much guaranteed matches because no-one would be stupid enough to try trick science.

Bottom line - this process will probably be completed some time this week, after which the Embassy will e-mail us an appointment date and time about 2 weeks out. At that point, we’ll make travel arrangements and head down to pick up our daughter.

2) So, when can you pick her up?

Very funny. You get the idea.

3) Can the adoption still fall through?

No.

4) What’s her full name going to be again?

Carmen Julia Maribel S.

5) Maribel?

Yes, that’s actually her legal name at the moment and the name she was given at birth. We really love the name and will never get a chance to use it again, so we figured she should be able to keep it.

6) What’s with the whole birth certificate thing you keep complaining about?

I find it totally ludicrous that a child that was born almost 10 months ago must, and I mean must in a legal sense, receive a new birth certificate with our names. I understand the need for official documentation, really, but we had nothing to do with giving birth to her, so why create what amounts to a false document? Why isn’t the adoption decree good enough? It contains all of the legal information required for the new BC. To me this hearkens back to a time when adoption contained way more secrets that it does these days, and much of society preferred to hide a child’s adoptive status from them. Oh yah, and it gets better. In order prevent Carmen from going through a million hoops later in life whenever she needs a copy of her BC, we’ll be obtaining yet another one from the “Orphan’s Court” her in Pennsylvania. Nice eh?

7) So what happens once you’re home?

The joy of parenthood begins! We dip into our vast reservoirs of training, experience, and prayer to learn hour to raise this amazing little girl.

So what’s with this attachment stuff you keep talking about?

I really think that discussion deserves it’s own post. Stay tuned…

Posted on February 23rd, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Adoption, CJ, Thoughts