Even though we're only hosting children at this point, we decided to go ahead and get our "full" home study started since we know we'll be adopting soon. We will also be having a "mini" home study done for the hosting. A home study is basically a study of the prospective adoptive family and their home, life experiences, health, lifestyle, extended family, attitudes, support system, values, beliefs, and other factors relating to the prospective adoption. This information is then summarized in what is called a home study report.
We received our initial packet from the home study agency, so we're currently filling out the preliminary paperwork they require to get the home study process started. The hardest form so far, at least for me, is the autobiographical form. Those questions dig deep and require a lot of introspection to answer. We're trying to answer everything as honestly as possible but of course, in the back of our minds we're wondering what the agency wants to hear. Some of the questions are a little frustrating because it seems like they ask the same things over and over.
A caseworker will have to visit our house and check out our living space. I'm told that this is nothing to worry about, that they WANT to approve people and help get these children into loving homes. Still, I have nightmares of our cat coughing up a hairball in front of the caseworker or Winston jumping up and knocking her over. You know that kind of stuff always happens when you have company!!! We also have a crazed possum that comes out of our woods at odd times and roots around our backyard. What if he shows up??!!!
Rob and I have pretty much decided that we're gonna be as open and honest as possible in all of our answers to interview questions. As much of a pain as the paperwork and interviews are, we realize that it's important to go through this process because these people need to make sure we're a good family. We also need to work through the issues of how we'll raise the children, how we'll keep them connected to their Latvian culture, etc. The bottom line is that we all want what's best for the children. This whole matter is in God's hands anyway so He will have to work out the details.
The home study will become part of the dossier, which is the packet of documents a foreign government (Latvia in our case) requires in order to process the adoption of a child in that country's legal system. Foreign governments are very particular about the format of these documents and require that all documents submitted be notarized and apostilled. An apostille is a special seal applied by an authority (in our case, Georgia Secretary of State) to certify that a document is a true copy of an original. It's their way of protecting against forgeries.
Part of the paperwork portion involves gathering documents such as birth/marriage certificates. These documents are required for both the home study and dossier. However, the ones for the dossier must be apostilled before submitting them to Latvia. In our case, we can order apostilled certificates directly from Florida's Department of Health (we were born/married in Florida so those docs have to be apostilled there). This will save us that extra step of getting certified copies apostilled later.
Once we know for sure who we'll be adopting from Latvia, we will make contact with a Latvian attorney and begin compiling the documents required by Latvia. Of course, they'll require background checks on all the inhabitants of our house, which includes my 97-year old (no that's not a typo) Grandmother who lives with us. Yeah, like she's a criminal!! She actually thinks it's funny that she has to be fingerprinted and go through the background check just like us. She's one tough cookie and can take you out with her walker if she has to, but luckily she's no criminal.
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