Saturday, May 05, 2007

Referrals - Predictions on "Gottcha Day" for Alyzabeth

We are back from our week long vacation visiting with family in Missouri and my Mom and Aunt from Maine (they are now on their driving journey home).

With the latest information from our Agency and China, the post from Donna & Joe's blog is just about what we are now thinking.
It changes each month so here's the best guess today! Another great resource (use link on right side bar) for predictions is Wren's Estimator.

From Donna & Joe:
Referrals are in...
The CCAA hasn't updated their web-site yet, but it seems they got through dossiers logged in before November 1, 2005. They left off at October 26th last month, so that's six days.

This is better than the two days they did last month, but not the two-weeks we were hoping for. If they could manage to get back to referring two weeks every month, we may see a referral this December or January '08.
Here's how it would look:
May referrals through 11/11/05
June referrals through 11/25/05
July referrals through 12/9/05
August referrals through 12/23/05
Sept referrals through 1/6/06
Oct referrals through 1/20/06
Nov referrals through 2/3/06 (us as in Alyson & Ford)
Dec referrals through 2/17/06 (us as in Donna & Joe)
Jan referrals through 3/3/06

According to the polls on RQ, November is a BIG month and it may take the CCAA three months to get through all the dossiers. If this is the case, we can add on another month or two. This would put us at a 22-24 month wait from our LID of 2/17/06.
Doesn't the CCAA realize that we're NOT getting any younger??
I would have NEVER imagined in my wildest dreams that it would take this long to get our referral...this is so frustrating!

Back to us - Alyson & Ford:
We would love to have a referral in November of 2007; otherwise any further slowdown will probably mean closer to January/February 2008 with travel approval for March or April!
As Donna wrote, we are getting OLDER!!!

11 comments:

C's Mom said...

Right there with you...aging along. I'm keeping fingers crossed for 24-26 months with my 2/24/06 LID

OziMum said...

I've got EVERYTHING crossed, that we'll get a referral this year! I really , really, hope so. I think I could be very sad at Christmas if its not close!

Lee-Anne
LID 22 Feb

Anonymous said...

This crazy wait is making me crazier by the day. I'm so tired of keeping/staying busy to keep my mind off the wait. I'm ready to be busy because I'm a Mom! I sure hope they go back to 11 day+ for referrals!

redmaryjanes said...

I read Donna's post and it has me feeling a little down. My agency told me on Thurs. that we had approx. 15 more months to go and our LID is 2/6/07.

Moosevine said...

Just read your entry in my guestbook, Alyson. Thanks for stopping by! I've now added you to my list of blogs to check. :) What part of MO? I grew up in Lebanon, between Rolla & Springfield.

Melissa said...

I am also praying for a November referral. I never thought Lily would not be home this Christams but if we could travel right after that would help the pain!hopefully they can get through November 05 in 2 more months!

Donna said...

What really bugs me sometimes is that the CCAA can't figure out a way to get their children referred out sooner. They are aware that the majority of waiting parents are in their late 30's to mid 40's. Wouldn't you think they would want to place the children with younger, rather than older, parents??

Joe and I would have been 41 had they stayed on the fast track...now we'll be 43 or possibly 44 when we travel. This was definitely not in our initial plan!

Donna

Dawn said...

Oh, how I hope you get Alyzabeth An's referral in 2007!!!! Keeping my fingers, toes, arms, eyes:), etc... crossed for you!!!

~Dawn

Anonymous said...

I would like to respectfully like to ask you to reconsider the phrase "Gotcha Day." I think the day that you meet your daughter for the first time is definitely a moment to celebrate; however, "gotcha" implies "winning" something as in a game of tag or capture-the-flag. It makes the adoptee feel like a prize that has been won; ie snatched away from somebody or something else. I know it is VERY popular in adoption circles, but as an adult adoptee I have to say that I find it really upsetting and painful. I don't want to think that I was "gotten."

Alyson and Ford said...

Regarding Susan's Comment:
I have read about "Mettcha" Day as a term for the first time meeting our new daughter. Is there any other better term? I respect an adoptee's opinion and would like to find a "forever" term that will be pleasing to my new daughter.
Thank you for your comments.

Alyson

Susan said...

Wellll... "mettcha" is better than "gottcha," but it still has that really informal, casual tone to it. How about "Family Anniversary Day?" (the day you became a family) or "Together Day" (being together for the first time). Does it have to have a name? Maybe just a special date that is somehow celebrated, personally and joyfully, within the family.

I really appreciate Third Mom's take on Gotcha Day.
http://thirdmom.blogspot.com/2006/08/going-gotcha-gone.html