So many of you have been asking if we have any adoption updates. We didn’t until a couple of weeks ago and the updates have been flooding in ever since. Since our last update in July and really all in the past couple of weeks the following things have occurred:
We Received NOC ( This is the major approval by India stating that they have no objection to him being our son!)
We completed and mailed off our dossier ( Huge stack of paperwork, pictured above, with all of our documents in it that will be used in India to finalize our adoption in court) This package is currently right now in transit to India! Oh, and it also has a baby board book in there with pictures of our family so that he can see us for the first time! Insert cry emoji here. haha.
We found out that India is starting to issue travel visas so adoptive families can travel to bring their children home.
We also received an $8,000 grant through the partnership with Show hope and Tim Tebow foundation!! They totally blew us away! This means that now we are very close, if not totally funded for our adoption, unless there are more unforeseen costs with covid, possible quarantine or flights.
We are praising Jesus for all of these things and are just so excited to be so much closer to bringing our sweet son home!
Next, once our dossier reaches our son’s orphanage, they will file an adoption petition in court in India. Our agency has told us that this step in the process could take anywhere from 2-12 months or more. This will be determined by whether or not there is backlog from shut downs with covid, if the judge wants more documentation, etc. We are waiting on the judge to approve it and give us a written court order declaring our little guy legally a Smith!
After that we will prepare for travel!!
While all of this is so exciting, I want to also be real and say that it has not all been easy. In fact, there’s been a lot of waiting, a lot of unknowns, fears and things that have happened unexpectedly along the way. But in it all one thing has remained true, God’s faithfulness. We know that his timing is perfect and all of this will ultimately bring glory to His name. It’s been so incredibly cool to see him go before us every step of the way on this journey. He is an amazing story-weaver and a God who can be trusted and is worthy of our praise!
Will you join us in boldly praying for the following things:
Pray that our dossier will make it to India safely and smoothly!
Pray for court to be heard quickly and that we would get the written order quickly.
Pray for our family as we begin prepping for travel and the transitions to come. Pray for our girls and that God will continue preparing their hearts for their brother to come. Pray for us as we prepare our home, hearts and little ones for what’s ahead. Pray for our son. Pray for his little heart to be prepared to bond well to us and to give him a peace that we are his parents.
As always, with all of our heart, thank you. Thank you for supporting us in every way possible, encouraging us, and most of all for your prayers. This wouldn’t be possible without your support and encouragement. So thankful for you all.
Love, The Smith's