Legally Lexie

It's finally official....Lexie is Lexie!! We got her re-adoption finalized and it only took 17 months. That's longer than we waited to get Lexie's referral!

When we brought Lexie home from Taiwan, she immediately became a US citizen when we landed in Hawaii. And once the final ruling was made in Taiwan, we became her parents. The problem was her citizenship papers, social security card and VISA were all issued in her Chinese name.

By having Lexie re-adopted in our state, we could make sure all of our legal documents had her official name on it. We just didn't realize how long it would take.

There was a stack full of forms that needed to be filled out. I bypassed using a lawyer because I figured I could follow the samples that our agency had given us. It took me about a month to type all of the information on to the forms. Then I had to make numerous copies of each form plus put together all of Lexie's paperwork from Taiwan. It was like doing a home study for a 2nd time.

Then we had to make an appointment to meet with the clerk at the circuit court. There is only one clerk who works on the re-adoption cases. After she checked that our paperwork was in order, we paid a fee and had to mail certain forms via registered mail to different social agencies. Once we got those forms back, it was another visit to the circuit court. Of course, we went on a furlough day, so the court was closed, so it meant coming back on another day.

After we dropped off the paperwork, it was just a matter of waiting. We were told it would take about a month. Then it turned into 6 months, then a year. I kept calling the clerk to find out what was happening with our case. I had to be extremely lucky to talk to someone because about 95% of the time, their phone was answered by their voice mail.

When I finally spoke to the clerk in February, she said that we were the 5th family on the list. Two months later, we were number 3. Finally in June, she told me that our adoption was finalized and the forms were in the mail.

Adoption is definitely not for the faint of heart. It can be extremely stressful, lots of hoop jumping, and there are many moments that leave you questioning yourself and wondering why are you putting yourself through this. And that's when I look into those amazing brown eyes and see that beautiful smile and I know adoption was the best decision we could have ever made in our life.