Our TV Debut...

Here's a copy of what's written on the WKOW Channel 27 (ABC) website about our TV interview we had yesterday.

Couple's Lengthy Adoption Journey

Deciding to adopt a child is a life changing event. But one Madison couple trying to adopt a little girl from China has found out, it can be quite the paper chase as well. Sue and Robert have been going through the process since July of 2006 and they don't expect to be done for another year and a half or two years. It's a paperwork nightmare for anyone. Luckily Sue is extremely organized and has been able to keep track of all the necessary paperwork. It's a file cabinet worth of papers because documents required for the adoption all expire at different times. But a new law making its way through capitol hill could fix this problem. Right adoptive parents have to complete a home study, which is good for one year. Submit fingerprints which expire after 15 months, and an I-171H form, your favorable determination, which expires in 18 months. As if getting their fingerprints taken multiple times isn't enough of an inconvenience, all adoptive parents in Wisconsin have to drive to Milwaukee to get it done. Sue estimates she's spent about six months filling out all the paperwork and mailing it in. The process to adopt a child internationally is taking longer, even though the number of adoptions is on the decline. Adoptions from abroad have dropped about 15 percent in the past two years. But the federal law requiring that the forms be re-issued at specific times could be changed. H.R. 628 would help families by extending some of those deadlines, and eliminate some of the extra fees. To learn more about H.R. 628 click on the link below http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-628