Dossier Treasure Hunt

27 items to find, make copies of, notarize and apostle… easy right? Keep in mind that the documents are only good for five months before you have to have them updated so they do not expire and have to be redone, they should be no more than three months old on submission because they may expire before approval in Ukraine and the medical check (including blood work) can only be one month old on submission. You are at the mercy of “the man” taking his time to return your requests for documents in a timely manner, trying to time them all with the estimated date of submission for travel, and watching to see what expires when.  Good luck!

1.       Employment Letter: Start easy, this is just a form letter. Fill in the blanks, take it to HR and have them copy it onto Eaton letterhead, have it notarized and give it back. First document!!  One employment letter = 1 document.

2.       Passports: We were told these were the items that could take the longest time so we decided to get to work on them. I went on line and researched where to go and how to apply. The US.gov website had the documents to print off so we filled these out to get a head start. On June 22, 2010 I went to the Jackson County Courthouse to submit the application, birth certificate and driver’s license. After standing in line, reviewing application, waiting for approval it was time to pay. I pulled out the Visa debit card to find out that we cannot pay. They need cash. The lady at the counter suggested going to the post office. They have another system there and can use a Visa card. Off I go again. Everything went great. We talked about the adoption and what we had to go through to get to this point and what comes ahead. She thought the passport should be here in ten days to two weeks but officially it could take up to six weeks. Shawn had a similar experience on the following day. I had sent him to the post office knowing he would have the same problem at the court house I did. They told him it was too late to apply for a passport and sent him to the Courthouse. They forgot to tell him that he needed cash. After standing in line and so on he ended up driving to the bank to get cash, going back to the court house and finally got to apply. I applied on June 22, 2010 and received my passport on July 23, 2010. Shawn applied on June 23, 2010 and received his passport on July 26, 2010. Two passports, three copies of each = 6 documents!!

3.       State Police Clearances: We were told these were one of the items that could take the longest time. On July 6, 2010 we went to the State Police post off of Parnell in Jackson. I asked to officer at the desk where I was supposed to go to get finger printed for an adoption from Ukraine. He said there was a number for me to contact and all the information that I needed would be given to me there (517-241-0600). The number was for the criminal records division; a very nice lady answered the phone and proceeded to tell me that I needed to go to the nearest state police post and tell them that I needed to be fingerprinted on a hard card for an adoption taking place in the Ukraine. Now, since I was just there I asked her if she was sure and explained that I was just there and they had given me her number as a contact. So I called the state police department and of course there was no one available to finger print today, please stop by tomorrow but be sure to call to make sure someone is available. When I called the next day I got to meet the most wonderful officer. He was very excited about the adoption and asked lots of questions. One of his daughters has adopted so we shared stories. He made sure he was available to do the prints at a time that we could both be there together. Shawn snuck away at lunch from work and I met him there. It was kind of fun to pick about what skeletons we may have hidden in the closet. We sent out the finger prints on hard cards on July 11, 2010 (PO Box 30634 Lansing Mi 48909 at $30.00 per person). We were told that it would take about two weeks for the clearance to arrive. They arrived on July 17, 2010. Two people, two clearances = 2 documents!!

4.        Marriage Certificate: We have the original, but it is not good enough. We have to request two copies from the state’s Department of Health. This request was done on line at www.michigan.gov/mdch for the bargain basement price of $82.25 on July 6, 2010. We received our copies on July 17, 2010 = 2 documents!!

5.       Home Study: When we started the process of the home study we knew it was going to take a while.  It takes several meetings, some can be on the phone, some just about anywhere, but one has to be at our home. We started in June. We had planned on meeting at a picnic that the company puts on for all of the families that they have been involved in bringing home. We ran into traffic jam and ran late so we had a short meeting. It was great to see the children and to finally meet Larissa (our adoption agent from Adopt A Waiting Child). We scheduled a meeting at our home for the Friday before the fourth of July. It ended up that she was unable to attend so it was postponed. We scheduled for the next week. She stayed for a couple of hours talking to Shawn, Shawnie, and looking at our home. I scheduled a meeting at her home later in the week. She sent home some movies on what to expect with adoption from an orphanage, suggestions for books and the hope of a home study to be completed soon. We started talking in June and received our final draft of the home study August 11, 2010. One more document!

6.       Home Study Agency License: This one was easy, it came with the final copy of the home study = 1 document!

7.       Proof of Home Ownership: We started at the mortgage company. They helped us buy our home so we thought it would be the right place to start. I went to the bank and met with the loan officer who was willing to help but unable to because my name was not on the mortgage. So, Shawn met me there after work. We brought a form letter for her to copy onto the company’s letterhead. After reading the letter she said she was not legally allowed to fill it in because she could not prove that the information requested was accurate. We had an appraisal done in order to be approved for the mortgage and brought it with us. It included all the information about our home. She wanted to help so she made some phone calls, went to speak to her boss, ask other loan officers but unfortunately was unable to give us the letter requested by the Ukraine.   The next stop was at the county assessor’s office. He was out but his secretary was in. I spoke to her about our situation and she thought he would be able to help. She pulled up the information on our home, asked some questions about the letter, took some notes and told me she would call when the letter was done. The assessor had taken some time off work, he had family business and would be in next week. She did call me and let me know the letter was written but we had to wait for him to return to the office so he could sign it. When the assessor did return to work the letter was signed but he did not have it notarized. He said that he did not know anyone. Thankfully the secretary for the Township Office was a notary and was able to notarize his document. We received the letter on July 22, 2010 = 1 document.

8.       Copy of House Deed: Another easy one. I called the closing company on our mortgage and asked if they had a copy of the deed. She looked up our account, printed it as we spoke and said I could pick it up right now, August 24, 2010 = 1 document.

9.       Medical Form: I dropped off the paperwork request for My Doctor to review on July 23, 2010. We scheduled our blood work for the next week, had our physical and picked up the report at the office a couple of days later, August 25, 2010 = 2 documents

10.   Doctor’s license: another easy one, they just had to copy it = 1 document

11.   Post Adoption Obligation Letter: This was just a form letter that I had to fill in the blanks and have notarized, 2 copies = 2documents

12.   Affidavit Letter for Interpol: Another easy fill in the blank form letter that needed to be notarized, 2 copies needed = 2 documents

13.   Power of attorney blank:  Just needed to sign and notarize, 2 copies needed = 2 documents

14.   Power of Attorney with the names of facilitators: Sign, notarize and we are done = 1 document

15.   Application to adopt with the State Department of Adoption Ukraine (SDA): another fill in the blank letter to sign, notarize and apostle. Done on August 24, 2010 = 1 document

16.   Homemaker statement: A small letter stating that I do not work at this time and have it notarized. Written and notarized on September 22, 2010 = 1 document.

This was the last document and it was time to go to Lansing to the Office of the Great Seal (special department of the Secretary of State). The office is located at 108 South Washington Square Suite 1. They basically notarize the notary. They check that the notary is still licensed and all paperwork is signed and dated properly. If all is right and proper they assign it a number and give it a seal. All of our treasures were found and apostled to complete our dossier on October 4, 2010. This packet was sent to Larissa for translation in Ukraine. Our dossier was officially submitted on Wednesday October 27, 2010.

OK, in reality it took 3 trips to the Office of the Great Seal to get all of the documents notarized because we sent 2 separate packages to Larissa so they could get a jump start on the translation. Then there were issues like getting all of our paperwork in before the moratorium of the court on adoption, the notaries messing up their signatures and having to find someone to notarize the document again, trying to get letters from the school to show that I need specific dates to travel, letters that had to be redone because they were not correct and anything else that could possibly come up. It has been a lot of work getting the papers needed, getting them in a timely manner, and having them done 100% proper. I know that in the end every ounce of time, trouble, heart ache, lack of concern of “the systems” involved in the process will be more than worth it when our children are home.

I have a couple of interesting stories that really do not fit into the treasure hunt but they should not be forgotten:

*I needed a letter notarized and sent ASAP and I had to attend school on the days prior to the date of submission. I had a friend notarize at school and off to Lansing I went. Here is where taking short cuts comes in, she did not sign her middle initial on one document and did not date another. I went to 3 banks that would not notarize because I was not a customer so I was sent to the capitol. No one in the whole building was a notary (I should mention that it was a Friday and they all took the day off) so I was sent to the city building. I met a woman upstairs that said she would but when reviewed the documents changed her mind. She did not want to notarize a document that was already signed and not all people were present. After her lecture on making a notary do something under force was illegal she said she would walk to the Great Seal and talk to them and if they say it is OK she will do it. All the way there she talked about how I was crazy to want more children, that kids were not in any way good, she could never want to raise kids again and so on and on and on. In the end she did it and all worked out but OMG!!!

*On another trip to The Great Seal I needed to ship to Ukraine ASAP. We did our research before we left and found and printed directions to the closest DHL service. When I get to The Great Seal, I found out that the notary was not right and had to get it redone then find out that the DHL center is closed (forever). I call Shawn and have him look for a new DHL location. We make several phone calls and lots of miles on the car, but finally find one and got the document out.