Court Docs and ICPC

We received word last week that our agency had the translated court documents from India. This means we have "written guardianship" which means that India has put it in writing....we are Nathaniel's guardians. I'm a "put it in writing" girl, so I like the extra step to make it official. The better news is that now our agency can begin the ICPC process. ICPC stands for: Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children

Per the CA state government's website:

The purpose of the ICPC is to protect the child and the party states in the interstate placement of children so that:

• The child is placed in a suitable environment;
• The receiving state has the opportunity to assess that the proposed placement is not contrary to the interests of the child and that its applicable laws and policies have been followed before it approves the placement;
• The sending state obtains enough information to evaluate the proposed placement;
• The care of the child is promoted through appropriate jurisdictional arrangements; and
• The sending agency or individual guarantees the child legal and financial protection.

Basically, this is Texas and CA chatting with each other with Texas saying, "Hey Cali, we've been the state working on an adoption. Is it okay if he comes your way?" My adoption agency says CA ICPCs move fairly fast....news I loved hearing! We are just hoping we do not come across any glitches (although, glitches do seem to love me soooooo much).

While ICPC is happening, the Indian facility (orphanage) is applying for Nathaniel's passport. So, we have to wait for both pieces, ICPC and passports, to be approved before we have the official word to travel.

Once that word is given, our agency coordinates with the agency representative in India to coordinate dates. The planner that I am, I emailed my agency today and asked if there was a way we can get his calendar now so we know his dates. I'm sure they chuckled a bit because they said great idea, but that won't happen now. They did tell him we will want to fly at his earliest availability.

So, yes, we are preparing to leave as soon as possible. We will spend our next few weeks getting everything ready so we can leave as soon as we can...even if it means within a couple of days. There is always a possibility of this taking many, many weeks (the glitches that love me so), but we are praying for a speedy journey.