Fundraising Update and Adoption Process Overview

We have some exciting news… we are almost 1/4^th of the way to having our puzzle completed!!! (See the picture at the bottom of this post)

That is so exciting for us because that means we are even closer to having our home study fully funded!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to those who have given online or in person! What a blessing it has been for our family to read your sweet words of encouragement, to hear that you are praying for us, and to know that your support is getting us a little closer to having our little one home!

The cool thing about being closer to having our home study portion funded is that once our home study is complete we are one big step closer to being matched with a child! Also, most adoption grants require a completed home study to apply… so once our home study is finished we can apply for a lot of different grants that will hopefully help with adoption costs as well!

We still have about 390 pieces of our puzzle that need to be “bought” before it is complete. 

If you are interested in “buying” a puzzle piece or pieces for $10 each let me know and we will get your name on that puzzle piece or pieces. Once our puzzle is complete it will show all the names of those who have given to help get our little guy home! We think it will be an amazing testimony of God’s faithfulness and provision in this adoption.

We are hoping to have our home study fully funded by January 2019 so we can start the home study process at that time. If you would like to give to support our adoption and buy a puzzle piece you can give in person or mail a check/cash (let us know if you need our address!). You can also give online to our One Mission account: https://onemission.fund/support/mulder-family/

THANK YOU!!!

Also, we want to quick share an overview of the adoption process from India for those of you who have asked what that looks like. This is a very broad overview and the timeline of each of these steps is dependent upon how quickly we complete and turn in paperwork and how quickly the Indian government is able to process that paperwork. This is why we are told the process can take anywhere from 12-24 months.

The first step is to send in the application to the agency and they send us a back a variety of documents to be signed and completed. We also pay our first two large fees at that time and that essentially gets us into the India adoption program. We have completed those steps so far.

The next step is the home study portion, which is a variety of documents, medical evaluations, reference letters, home visits, etc. that basically determine whether we are fit to parent an adopted child. Once that has been completed it will be sent to India where it will hopefully be approved and we will be registered on CARINGS, a database in India. During that time we will also be working on another packet of paperwork called a dossier that will also be going to India. The home study and approval process will likely take 2-6 months from what we’ve heard.

From there we wait to be matched with a child, which could take anywhere from 0-6 months. While we are waiting for a match and once we are matched there will be more paperwork to fill out and more fees to be paid to complete that paperwork. Once we are matched we will hopefully accept that match and then there is referral paperwork to complete and another agency fee due.

From there we will be waiting to be issued something called a No Objection Certificate from India and then once that is issued we will move on to the court system where, Lord willing, our adoption will be approved. Once we are approved in the court system we wait for our child’s birth certificate and passport to be issued and then hopefully we will be able to travel. From being matched with our child to traveling can take anywhere from 6-12 months according to what we have been told by other adoptive families.

Of course, this is a very broad overview and there are other steps in this process as well, but that is a quick summary of what the process looks like. It can be long and there is a lot of paperwork to be completed so we ask for your prayers for patience in the waiting!! It is hard to wait but we are trusting that God has this entire process in His hands and He will do it all exactly in His perfect timing!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1) For our home study to be fully funded so we can start the paperwork!

2) For energy and time to fill out the paperwork… this can be hard to find with two active little boys at home!

3) For patience in the process as we do a lot of “hurry up and wait”.

4) For the little child God has planned for our family. Pray for his heart and pray that God would be preparing his heart already to join our family and working out each of the details to allow that to happen!

5) For our caseworkers as they diligently work with so many adoptive families. Pray for strength and energy for them!