In our hearts, Milannah Joy is our daughter beyond a shadow of a doubt. However, the State of Illinois doesn't feel the same way until we go through the length Adoption Process. I'm going to record the Adoption Process since I recorded our timeline of Termination of Parental Rights here. I will start where I left off.
2.20.2013: The Birth Parents & Milannah had a "Permanency Hearing." The only person present to represent any party was our Caseworker. She said the hearing lasted all of about 2 minutes. At this time, Milannah's goal was changed to ADOPTION. Our Caseworker stopped by our house that evening to confirm that her goal was indeed changed!
2.22.2013: Our Caseworker held a conference call with her supervisor at the DCFS office along with our Adoption Worker, Sheryl. Sheryl works out of another office about an hour away from our Caseworker. Because everyone involved is in favor of getting the ball rolling, this meeting took place on the phone so that the process could begin right away.
3.4.2013: I had a "Transitional Visit" with our Caseworker & the Adoption Worker. Both ladies met at Milannah's Day Care to see her & for Sheryl to meet her. Then they met me at work to discuss the next steps. I was given our "Application for Adoption" and we discussed the upcoming Home Study that must be completed. Sheryl will take our application and create a narrative from it. She informed me that the process should take no longer than 6 months & that the State of Illinois typically takes a couple of months to approve the adoption. Sheryl is planning a home visit at our house the first week of April. At that time I will turn in our Application so that the paperwork we've been given up to that point is complete & we can move forward.
4.5.2013: We met our Adoption Worker, Sheryl, for the first time as a family at our home. She began the paperwork for our Home Study. We turned in all of our completed paperwork & interview question answers. I also notified her that we completed the online Adoption Training, Lifebooks Training, & The Journey to Attachment Training. She will be in touch & come back for our 2nd visit in May. She believes that this step in the process should take 2-3 months.
5.14.13: Our Adoption Worker, Sheryl, made a return visit to our home. She shared with us that our Home Study is complete & we should hear from our lawyer soon.
6.2013: We met with our attorney, Mr. Brinkoetter, to sign all of the paperwork & we met with Milannah's attorney who had to come to our home to visit her in her normal setting.
Right before I left for Ethiopia we got the letter we had been waiting for...
Milannah Joy will become Reddington's sister & our forever daughter on Tuesday, July 9th at 1:30! Lots more photos to come after our big day!
1 comment:
That IS exciting news! I can't wait to see her beautiful face :-) Congrats to the entire Holt family!
Post a Comment