Dossier to China

After months on the great adoption "paper chase," our dossier is finally complete and on its way to China!  The dossier is our official application to the People's Republic of China to adopt a child from their country.  In adoption lingo, we are now at the DTC (dossier to China) stage of the process.  

Once our dossier is reviewed by Chinese officials, we'll receive a log-in date (LID) and at that point, we'll be eligible for a referral (a match with a child eligible for international adoption).  And that's when the next waiting stage begins.  A referral could take a month, three months, six months....18.

I thought being DTC would mean a lull in the paperwork, but an e-mail from our agency alerting us that our dossier was on its way to China was followed immediately by another one with the paperwork we need to return to our agency in preparation for a referral.  At least it's something to keep us busy while we anxiously await our LID and anything having to do with the referral process makes adoption feel more real.