Today has been difficult in regards to our adoption process. Rob and I have begun working on gathering all of the documents that we need for our dossier when it is sent to Bulgaria later in the year. We have a three page check list of documents that are needed for the dossier, including certified copies of birth certificates, our marriage license and copies of our passports. Those are actually the easy ones.
What remains are numerous forms that need to be filled out by other people attesting certain information about Rob and myself. For example, there is a medical certificate that needs to be filled out by a physician that states that Rob and I are healthy and able to be parents. There is another medical certificate that needs to be filled out by a specialist in psychiatry that states that Rob and I are mentally healthy and capable of being good parents. Our agency also informed us that we will need a letter on the physician's letterhead stating that any medications that we are on does not interfere with our ability to be parents and does not shorten our life span.
Did I mention that all of these documents must be notarized in the same county in which the document originated and then apostilled by the state? In other words, if the physician filling out the form is located in Williamson County, then the notary must be in Williamson County. The notary's commission cannot expire in less than six months from when the document was notarized. There also can be no errors on the document, no cross outs, and no white outs. City and state must be spelled out in all addresses, and our names must be spelled exactly as they are on our passports. If an error is made, the documents must be thrown away, and we must start over.
I actually can handle all of that..I think. What has been frustrating has been getting the physicians to do the documents in the first place. The doctor's office which did my medical certificate did not want to do my letter regarding my prescriptions. Instead, they wanted my hematologist to do the letter. I did not feel good about this, but I called my hematologist's office (who I just saw on Monday) and the nurse never called me back. In the mean time, I emailed our adoption agency who confirmed that the hematologist should not do the letter. The doctor who did the medical certificate should do the letter so I called them back, played phone tag, and finally gave the nurse the news that she did not want to hear. She begrudgingly said that she would get with the doctor and get the process started.
Did I also mention that our dossier has been revised in the last week and now requires us to get another medical certificate from said doctor after our first trip to Bulgaria? Aaagh! It also requires us to get another criminal background check after our first trip as well. The first one we have already done for our home study paperwork. There are more changes, but I won't bore you.
Many other things did not go well today, but a lot of it is out of my control, which is not really good for a person who can sometimes be described as a "Fixer"...think of the lyrics to the Pearl Jam song by the same name. But, I am learning very slowly that I have never really been in control. God is in the driver's seat, and he knows where Rob and I are going on this journey. He also knows what it is going to take to get there, and He has shown us many times over the last few months that He will make it known to us what to do in His time. So what do I do in this situation besides practice my patience? I remind myself of what a precious gift from God is waiting across the ocean for me and Rob...our little boy who needs us to persevere and see this journey to its conclusion no matter how long or hard the road becomes.
What remains are numerous forms that need to be filled out by other people attesting certain information about Rob and myself. For example, there is a medical certificate that needs to be filled out by a physician that states that Rob and I are healthy and able to be parents. There is another medical certificate that needs to be filled out by a specialist in psychiatry that states that Rob and I are mentally healthy and capable of being good parents. Our agency also informed us that we will need a letter on the physician's letterhead stating that any medications that we are on does not interfere with our ability to be parents and does not shorten our life span.
Did I mention that all of these documents must be notarized in the same county in which the document originated and then apostilled by the state? In other words, if the physician filling out the form is located in Williamson County, then the notary must be in Williamson County. The notary's commission cannot expire in less than six months from when the document was notarized. There also can be no errors on the document, no cross outs, and no white outs. City and state must be spelled out in all addresses, and our names must be spelled exactly as they are on our passports. If an error is made, the documents must be thrown away, and we must start over.
I actually can handle all of that..I think. What has been frustrating has been getting the physicians to do the documents in the first place. The doctor's office which did my medical certificate did not want to do my letter regarding my prescriptions. Instead, they wanted my hematologist to do the letter. I did not feel good about this, but I called my hematologist's office (who I just saw on Monday) and the nurse never called me back. In the mean time, I emailed our adoption agency who confirmed that the hematologist should not do the letter. The doctor who did the medical certificate should do the letter so I called them back, played phone tag, and finally gave the nurse the news that she did not want to hear. She begrudgingly said that she would get with the doctor and get the process started.
Did I also mention that our dossier has been revised in the last week and now requires us to get another medical certificate from said doctor after our first trip to Bulgaria? Aaagh! It also requires us to get another criminal background check after our first trip as well. The first one we have already done for our home study paperwork. There are more changes, but I won't bore you.
Many other things did not go well today, but a lot of it is out of my control, which is not really good for a person who can sometimes be described as a "Fixer"...think of the lyrics to the Pearl Jam song by the same name. But, I am learning very slowly that I have never really been in control. God is in the driver's seat, and he knows where Rob and I are going on this journey. He also knows what it is going to take to get there, and He has shown us many times over the last few months that He will make it known to us what to do in His time. So what do I do in this situation besides practice my patience? I remind myself of what a precious gift from God is waiting across the ocean for me and Rob...our little boy who needs us to persevere and see this journey to its conclusion no matter how long or hard the road becomes.
In the words of the French author, Comte de Buffon, "Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius."
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