Kinda PA (Pre-Approval)

I e-mailed my agency last night because we have been waiting for our PA (Pre-approval) for over 20 days. The pre-approvals have only been taking about a week so I was starting to get concerned.  Well I got good news but not quite good enough for me to say that we got PA.

  What is PA?  It is one of the first very important steps to adopting.  We sent a letter to China asking to adopt Lily.  This is called our Letter of Intent or LOI.  In the letter, usually just one or two pages,  you tell China why you want to adopt and what you have to offer in the way of being a good parents for Lily.  We tell of our background and our experience with children.  We talk about the resources in our area that will be able to help her transition.  We tell them about the support we have from our family, friends and Church.  And most of all we tell that she has our commitment.  We promise not to abandon or abuse her.  And we promise that she will have the same rights as all of our other children.

It is a promise or a vow that we will back up with all of the paperwork we will send in our dossier when it is complete.  So the CCAA then gives you PA based on what you have told them.  Basically they are saying if what you say is true and you back it up then yes, you may adopt Lily.

This is the word I got from my agency when I called them last night.

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Apparently the director from Department 2 has been gone for 2 weeks.  He is the guy who signs the PAs.  The PAs (including yours) has been approved for a long time - they are just waiting for him to sign it.  So - he is in catch up mode now and has been signing PAs all week.

The good news is that Lily said not to worry - your PA has been approved - it just needs to be signed.  I know you would rather see the real thing - but at least it is good news.
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So you can see why I kinda have PA.  While I feel really good about hearing that nothing went wrong, I want that official word.  And then I can share the picture I have of her.