Hanson Family: Possible timeline

Friday, January 30, 2009

Possible timeline

My attorney did not pick up the completed birth certificate until Wednesday, although it was ready last Friday. We lost nearly a week waiting! Here's what could be coming next:

By Friday Feb. 6: Birth Certificate documents translated
Early the following week: DNA sample taken AND Willow's passport completed
Two weeks after the DNA is taken, the results should arrive at the embassy in Guat. and they should email me with a date to be there (I'll get 5-7 days notice).

There's still a slim chance I could travel before the end of February, but it's looking more like early March every day. Each day feels like a year. Seriously - a couple days this week I felt paralyzed staring at my computer waiting for some news about that stupid birth certificate.

Tomorrow Willow's bed arrives. I'm going to spend some time this weekend getting the bedroom ready to get my mind off waiting. Lily is terrified of switching rooms and I finally gave in tonight deciding to put it off for a few more weeks. She doesn't want to sleep in there without her sister - I was thinking it would be nice for her to transition before Willow arrives so it's one less change in Lily's life. She strongly disagrees with me, so she's sleeping in her current room for a while longer.

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