Friday, December 05, 2008

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

I am tired and don't feel good, but I felt it was important to get something up here on the day that we have made our official decision. Today as of about 4:30pm EST, we submitted our application to Holt International to adopt a child from the country of India. As a family, we are excited but know that there is a very long road ahead for us. Because of India's adoption rules, this process in many ways will be more complicated than our adoption from China. India gives preference to Indians living within the country first, then to non-resident Indians living in other countries, and finally the least preference to non-Indians. Whereas China discourages (for the most part) in-country adoptions, India very much encourages them. By definition, we can only qualify for a special needs and/or older child. We have had two people from Holt tell us that we should expect a child at least 3-4. It remains to be seen how this will all play out. That is good by us!

1 comment:

Lori's Light Extemporanea said...

How well I remember attempting to adopt from India. It was not a good time. Y'all are more persistent than we, however, so you'll probably do well.

The thing that got me the most was the attitude. Since most Indians are Hindu and believe in reincarnation, they were suspicious of us for wanting to adopt a very special needs child. They thought she had done something horrible in her former life and this was her punishment. If we interrupted the cycle, she would be doomed to another lifetime of something awful. Sigh.