Michael and I "celebrated" 28 months of waiting for our referral two days ago. As usual, we feasted on some yummy Chinese food and contemplated how much longer we'll have to wait to finally meet our child. Families that recently received their NSN referrals waited 38 months. I thought about that. If I knew that we needed to wait another 10 months for our referral, I think my mind would be put at ease. 10 months is doable! Less than a year! YES! I can do that!
Unfortunately, it's not reality. The wait times continue to grow and there are all kinds of published articles about how adopting children from China will all but cease. It's so hard being a "waiting parent" right now.
I continue to pray to God that we will meet our child very soon. I'm starting to be very concerned about our USCIS paperwork and fingerprints expiring (again) this year! We have already used our free renewal (we used that last year) and when we need to renew again this year, it will cost us approximately $1000!! Don't get me started on how unfair I think this is. I honestly feel that our forms should be good until we get our referral - - no matter how long it takes! I can see a small processing fee to update things that have changed in a family's life (new child, job change, address change, etc.), but not charging a new fee as if we were just starting the process for the first time! Ugh!
I really thought we would travel this year. I had hoped to be in China this summer. Now...I'm hoping to travel before my passport expires in 2010!
Unfortunately, it's not reality. The wait times continue to grow and there are all kinds of published articles about how adopting children from China will all but cease. It's so hard being a "waiting parent" right now.
I continue to pray to God that we will meet our child very soon. I'm starting to be very concerned about our USCIS paperwork and fingerprints expiring (again) this year! We have already used our free renewal (we used that last year) and when we need to renew again this year, it will cost us approximately $1000!! Don't get me started on how unfair I think this is. I honestly feel that our forms should be good until we get our referral - - no matter how long it takes! I can see a small processing fee to update things that have changed in a family's life (new child, job change, address change, etc.), but not charging a new fee as if we were just starting the process for the first time! Ugh!
I really thought we would travel this year. I had hoped to be in China this summer. Now...I'm hoping to travel before my passport expires in 2010!
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