Please keep in mind that adoptions are individual processes and can take varying amounts of time...

now that I said that...I COMPLETELY understand how as a prospective adoptive parent you are starving for any bit of information that can tell you how long your wait may possibly be ;) I know I was a little addicted to reading people's time frames, so I thought I would share mine. **************************

8/3/05 mailed preliminary application to ACS

8/15/05 mailed application to CHSA (our home study agency) w/ autobiographies + picture

8/05 received packet from CHSA

8/24/05 went to Trenton and got 3 copies each of our birth certificates and marriage... more

I’d like to make Fridays “Life with Ella” days. Every Friday I’ll share a picture and story about my baby girl, her experiences in Viet Nam and how she’s doing now that we’re home.

Since I have, oh, about a trillion pictures and stories of her, it was hard for me to think of where to start. So I decided to share a picture of the day we first met her, and her nannies’ attempt to style her hair.

In all of Ella’s referral pictures and the pictures we received of her while our paperwork was being processed she had a wild head of thick, black hair that was often standing straight up as if she had stuck her finger in an electrical socket. Of course, we were smitten and I began my... more

Continued from Part One

When we preliminarily signed on with our agency (Asian Children Services), Viet Nam was in the process of re-opening its doors to United States adoptions. We chose our agency after tedious, thorough research and we couldn’t have made a better decision when we chose them. We were actively involved in our adoption through the entire re-opening process and were excited when licenses began to be issued and agencies were able to start finding families for children.

It was difficult to find information at first because... more

To start off I would like to let you know a little (or a lot) about me. I always like to “know” the author of blogs I read; it makes the stories seem that much more real. So, here’s my story…

I always knew that I wanted to be a mom. However, my path to becoming one was not how I imagined it would be.

The day after Christmas 2004 my husband and I were thrilled to discover that we were expecting a baby. After a healthy pregnancy, at a routine exam, we learned that our sweet baby’s heart had stopped beating. It was April of 2005 when our lives shattered and our son Cole was stillborn. Cole’s everlasting gift to us was making us parents; and we’re sure he had a lot to do with helping... more

Welcome to Adoption Media’s Viet Nam adoption blog! I am thrilled to be here-to help guide newly prospective adoptive parents; to support families whose kiddos have already come home and to keep us all up to date about Viet Nam and the adoption process.

Having only been home 2 months with my daughter Ella (from Bac Giang) I feel I have a strong, current grasp on adoptions from Viet Nam. Add to that my passion and excitement for the culture that is now my family’s and I just can’t wait to get started sharing through this blog!

I feel strongly that as adoptive parents and prospective adoptive parents we need to support each other and I hope that this can be a place for us to... more