Adoption Update

Last week we got word that Holt finally received our application in the mail. Whew! We were beginning to worry that it got lost in the mail because we mailed it over a month ago. Thankfully it did arrive and we have been officially welcomed into the Philippines program at Holt. Yippee! Now it's time to get busy compiling a group of documents called a "dossier" and scheduling our first home study.
Our home study will be done by Holt's partner agency in Manila, Kaisabuhay Foundation. A social worker will have to travel to Cebu in order to complete each of our home studies. Once our home study is completed and our dossier is ready, then those things will be submitted to the Philippines government. Also at that time we will submit an "Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition" to the United States Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS). We will have to travel to the American Embassy in Manila to do that.
So the ball is rolling! Now every time I see a Filipino infant or toddler (which is every day)I think to myself, Our future child may look like that. We have begun praying for that child who likely has not been born or even conceived yet. We are also praying for the mother and father of that child who will no doubt, in the least be thought of for the rest of our lives.
Something tells me this whole experience is going to be surreal; as I figure it must be for every person who becomes a parent - however it is accomplished.