Reflections: Adoption

Coming soon...

Adoption Timeline

September 25, 2009- A Date Night for the ages. After 6 weeks of prayer and fasting, we decide now is the time to adopt our first baby from Ethiopia!

September 26, 2009- Turn in application to agency, Dove Adoptions International

November 6, 2009- Officially accepted; sign contract to adopt our baby!

November 27, 2009- Home Study packet arrives in the mail.

December 1, 2009- DHS fingerprints captured

December 14, 2009- Home Study packet completed (minus DHS background checks)

December 24, 2009 and January 7, 2010- DHS background checks cleared (Bex's first, then Josh's)

January 12 and 19, 2010- Home Study visits at our house

February 1, 2010- Completed Home Study arrives!

February 3, 2010- I-600A packet arrives at USCIS

March 9, 2010- USCIS biometrics (fingerprints) appointment in Portland

March 11, 2010- Ethiopian government signs law requiring adoptive parents to travel to Ethiopia twice (once for court and again for the U.S. Embassy appointment)

March 29, 2010- USCIS approval letter arrives!! Completed Dossier handed off to agency

April 9, 2010- Dossier sent to Washington D.C. for final authentication

April 16, 2010- Dossier to Ethiopia AKA Wait List at last!!!

May 16, 2010- 1 month on Waiting List!

June 16, 2010- 2 months on Waiting List!!

July 16, 2010- 3 months on the Waiting List!!!

August 16, 2010- 4 months on the Waiting List!!!!

September 16, 2010- 5 months on the Waiting List!!!!!

October 16, 2010- 6 months on the Waiting List...

November 9, 2010- REFERRAL! At 6 months, 3 weeks and 3 days on the Waiting List we get The Call: we have a three month old baby girl!

December 10, 2010- Paperwork submitted to court in Ethiopia.

December 24, 2010- Notified of our Court Date!! Mercy will officially become a Mann on February 21, 2011.

February 12, 2011- Fly to Ethiopia (via a 2-day stopover in Amsterdam).

February 16, 2011- Meet our baby girl for the first time!

February 21, 2011- Court!

February 22, 2011- Took custody of Mercy Michael Fikir Mann! We are a family.

March 24, 2011- File submitted to the US Embassy

March 30, 2011 US Embassy appointment

March 31, 2011- Fly home as a family of three!

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