LID

Our agency was notified today by the Chinese Center of Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) that our dossier was logged in today.  In the world of Chinese adoption, this is referred to as LID, and it's a major milestone for adoptive families in the long adoption process. Since our dossier most likely landed on Chinese soil at the start of the week-long Chinese New Year celebrations, I was pleasantly surprised we got our LID just a few days after government offices reopened following the holidays. 

Aside from additional training Chris and I are required by our agency and the Hague Adoption Convention to complete, the next couple months will consist of waiting for a referral.  A referral will most likely occur during the CCCWA's monthly release of profiles of children newly eligible for international adoption.  If we aren't matched that month, we wait for the next month and so on.  Although we are open to adopting a boy and the estimated wait for a referral is one to six months, (compared with 12-18 months for a girl) there are many factors besides gender that make estimates unreliable.  

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. 

Dossier Authentication Update

Our dossier is at the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. waiting authentication and translation.  Our agency has nothing beyond that to tell us and considers no news, good news. 

Every adoption agency appears to approach the dossier process a little differently.  With our agency, we mail the dossier to them and somehow, they are permitted to submit the dossier directly to the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. for authentication.  Without this expedited step, Chris and I would have had to courier most of our dossier to the Chinese consulate in Chicago (which handles authentications from documents state sealed in Minnesota) and my birth certificate to the consulate in New York.  Instead, once the authentication is complete, the consulate will mail the dossier back to our agency, who will upload it into the CCCWA's system, and then mail the hard copy to China.  I'm so relieved to not be responsible for the dossier anymore!  After months of managing paperwork, it's officially out of my hands.  

Mailed the Dossier

Our dossier is on its way to our agency's home office in Michigan.  The guy at UPS probably thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to watch him seal and label the envelope.  I had just finished paying for the shipping when he wished me a good night and held up the open and unaddressed envelope with a look as if to say, "I've got it from here."  Not so fast, I thought.  There's months worth of bureaucracy in that envelope, I explained.  He graciously humored me by slowing down and making sure the two-inch-thick envelope was sealed just right.  When I explained the route all those papers were going to take (Michigan, Washington and eventually China) and their importance, he found a few pieces of thin cardboard in the back room and slipped them inside the envelope so the paperwork with the fancy seals issued by the Secretary of State wouldn't slide around and crease. With all the leaps of faith I knew were involved with adoption, I never thought about the faith I'd have to put in postal systems, both domestically and internationally.  I watched the UPS employee drop our dossier package into a bin and with that, it was on its way.