Hanson Family: I'm Legal Guardian!

Friday, November 28, 2008

I'm Legal Guardian!

I became Willow's legal guardian this week. That means that her adoption decree has been legalized by the Guatemalan governement. HUGE step to say the least. Today they are submitting paperwork to receive her birth certificate with our last name. When we receive that (1-2 month wait) we will travel about 4 weeks later. It is very likely that I'll travel in January, but a lot depends on how long it takes to get this birth certificate. In the mean time:

Here is the last care package I sent:

Apparently Willow loves dolls and she didn't want to put any of these down the day they took her to this store:

This is Sandra and Veronica's brother's daughter. She spends a great deal of time with Willow and is 10 months old:

My timeline

3/13/09: HOME
3/11/09 7:15am Embassy
2/26/09: 2nd DNA
2/5/09: Birth Certificate Complete
11/13/08: OUT of PGN
May 26, 2008: Resubmitted to PGN
April 18, 2008: Letter state sealed, apolstiled, and couriered to Guatemala City!
April 9, 22008: Kicked out
March 7, 2008: Enter PGN
March 5, 2008: Exit family court!! Major delay (of several months compared to other cases) was due to the social worker's broken computer.
February 29, 2008: First email from Sandra. Best part of the process since Willow's referral to me!
January 19, 2008: Pre-Approval Granted (day 47).
December 4, 2007: 99.9999% results received at the U.S. Embassy. My wait begins for Pre-Approval for Willow's Visa from the U.S. They allowed themselves up to 60 days to grant this Pre-Approval. My case can't move forward 'til I get it.
November 30, 2007: DNA sample collected from both Willow and her birth mother and interview completed with the birth mother. Again, this took much longer than it should have, due in part to the birth mother missing at least one appointment.
October 8, 2007: DNA authorization (permission to complete the DNA test). The sample is collected in Guatemala, and sent to an approved lab in the U.S. It is done to prevent corruption. Most families get this approval at the very beginning of the process. We'll never know why mine took so very long.
June 19th, 2007: Willow referred to me (I got her pics and medical information).
June 4th, 2007: Willow born as Amanda del Pilar Zabala.
March, 2007: Vietnam closed with that agency. Happily switched to Bethany in pursuit of a baby from Guatemala. Began the paperwork saga.
February, 2007: Began pursuit of baby from Vietnam with Children's and Family Serivces