“Pregnancy” Pains

I had forgotten how much I find the paperwork for the adoption to be:

1) tedious

2) ridiculous

3) hopelessly bureaucratic

Today, because it is spring break and because I’ve left it entirely too long, I decided I would (with the “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” mentality) get all the last paperwork needed to have our packet for our home study complete.

My first stop was the bank.  All I needed was a letter on bank letterhead that said how much was in our account, whether we have any loans with them and if so if we are paying on time, and how long we’ve been customers.  The form letter we had as an example from the adoption agency ended with ” To the best of our knowledge they are responsible, respectable, and honest people.”  We have been banking at this institution for 11 years.  I was there for OVER an hour.  Why?  Because they had to call and get permission to write the letter.  Because they had to discuss what could and could not be put in the letter. Because the person who was supposed to write the letter was also the notary so it had to be decided who would be the proper authority to sign the letter (a notary cannot both sign and notarize a document).  It was a three sentence form letter.  Over an hour.  Yep, gotta love that.  Oh, and they couldn’t include the line about us being responsible, respectful, and honest as far as they know.  ‘Cause, you know, we could come back with a lawsuit and say, “See they said we are honest?!?”  Wait, huh?

Next on the agenda, I was trying to get state police clearance.  Basically the state needs to provide our criminal record in this state (of course we have none).  So I call the state.  They tell me that only agencies can request that, not individuals, end of discussion.  I call International Family Services, our agency (who is great!) and they explain what we will do.  We have to fill out a form and go get our fingerprints done in McMinnville or Beaverton, then we bring our fingerprints and the form back to IFS, then they mail it to the state.  Redundant much?

And this is just the beginning.  This is for the home study.  This isn’t yet for any country but ours. Le sigh, le moan.  I look at pictures of waiting kids though (see them yourself here or here) and I remember why we do this.  They inspire me to try harder, to do more, to get this paperwork done, regardless of how I feel about it.

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