Lilypie
Not flesh of my flesh
nor bone of my bone
but still miraculously my own.

Never forget for a single minute
you didn't grow under my heart
but in it!


Monday, July 7, 2008

Update on the Process

Gabriella's adoption decree has been issued and Gabriella is legally my child.

So, you may be wondering, "What is left to complete before Gabriella can come home?" The following steps are remaining:
  1. Gabriella's birth certificate must be re-issued by the Civil Registry with Gabriella's first and middle birth names unchanged, but with my last name.
  2. The lawyer will then take the new birth certificate and apply for a passport and a passport will be issued.
  3. The Embassy will issue an "orange slip" allowing a second DNA test to be complete. The second DNA test will be completed to ensure that Gabriella is the same child from the beginning of the process, and that she was not "switched" with another baby.
  4. The lawyer will then take all the paperwork to the US Embassy, including the passport, Gabriella's dossier, the Family Court findings, the adoption decree, the DNA results, and all translations. The Embassy will issue an approval and the approval is on pink paper and is called a "pink slip". The pink slip will indicate the final Embassy appointment. When I receive this pink slip I know when I can go to pick Gabriella up to come home forever.

Last week when I was in Guatemala, I was told that the attorney was going to apply for Gabriella's new birth certificate this past Friday, July 4th. They were expecting it to take about one week to receive the new birth certificate.

I will continue to post updates as to what has been completed of these remaining items. We are getting close, though...!

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