Details Details Details

In gathering our paperwork, we have quickly learned why adoptive families refer to the experience as a ‘paperchase.’ One small example:

(1) We had to send money orders to Florida and Minnesota for certified copies of our birth certificates.

(2) Once they arrived here, we had to then resend them with money orders via express mail (with a return express envelope included) to the closest Guatemalan consulate from which the certificate had originated. In the case of Florida, this meant Miami; while in the case of Minnesota, this meant Chicago.

(3) Once the documents are returned to us, we have to send them to the embassy in San Francisco to be verified.

(4) Once this is complete, we will then send them to South Carolina to our agency who will then forward the packet to the lawyer in Guatemala, who will then submit the packet to the authorities.

Let the chase begin!