A Forever Family For RoRo

*Due to a recent grant and several nice donations, our trip has been fully funded and RoRo's adoption will be finalized next week.  No further donations are needed and I will be deleting this account soon.   Just giving people a heads-up first in case someone opens the link and wonders where it went.*


This is RoRo.   She is 9 years old and absolutely a.DOR.able!   She smiles - always.  She loves to sing.  She is full of love and potential... and she lives in an orphanage in China.   

RoRo came to America in December 2015 to stay with a loving host family.  I have never been able to have children of my own, and while I have dreamed of being a mom to a little girl, I had never considered international adoption.   That is, until I "met" RoRo.   Something clicked, and I knew that this little girl was destined to be my daughter.  

RoRo is considered a child with special needs.  Some developmental delay and speech delay (quite possibly simply due to being raised in an orphanage, as well as a slight hearing loss which would also explain the delays), but she's bright and outgoing and has a passion for life and laughter that is infectious.   

International adoption is an expensive process.  While I make enough money with my work to raise a child in a stable home, the initial fees are going to be a huge hurdle to overcome.   

Initial payments due:
First agency fee:  $4500 (adoption service agreement) ** FIRST GOAL ACCOMPLISHED***    THANK YOU!!
Letter of Intent fee: $580       **PAID**

Homestudy application fee:  $300  **PAID**
Homestudy:  $2000  **PAID**

Second agency fee:  $700  **PAID**
Dossier retainer:  $1500  -    **PAID** (in memory of Karen Carpenter)  :-)

USCIS :  $720, plus $85 for more fingerprinting
(The USCIS is the governing agency that approves a family to adopt a child internationally)  **PAID**

Next up and due soon:
Third agency fee:  $4500  -  ***PAID**

Dossier registration:  $1460  - **PAID**
(this fee is paid to China to register the complete dossier, and includes international wire and processing costs)

DS-260 Filing:  $580 - **PAID**
(this fee is to the US Government to cover international wire and courier services to deliver the DS-260 to the US Consulate in China. The DS-260 is the application for the child's immigration visa.)

Round trip airfare for me - PAID!!  Tickets bought for both me and RoRo!!

12 nights at the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou (this is contracted by the agency and is not up to negotiation) $183 per night = $2196  - PAID!

Also, there is a standard fee to pay to the agency that will cover all in-country travel, airport departure fees, entrance admission for tours and sightseeing, payments to guides and translators, and most in-country needs - $1299 for me, plus $634 for RoRo  - PAID!

There is a notary fee for RoRo's paperwork while over there - $640
Her medical exam before she can leave - $240
And finally tipping the guides and drivers - $200 - PAID!

Travel happens June 10th!!!  
There is only one fee left to raise before the plane takes off.  This is the orphanage donation fee.  

There is a required orphanage donation of $5400 - all adopting families must pay this.  It helps the orphanage care for the kids who remain, most of whom will never be adopted.  This is required by China.  I will need to have this cash-in-hand when I sign the final adoption papers the day after I arrive in China.  

People ask why the fees are so high.  A lot of this is due to dealing with the Chinese government and legal documents.  The 1st and 3rd agency fees cover services provided by the adoption agency.  They walk their families through the entire process.  Some of what they provide with these fees; 
Dossier services (all your "proof" documents) and review (make sure all i's are dotted and t's are crossed)
Translating all paperwork and submitting all legal documents to the Chinese government - they do everything for me and I'll know it's done right.
Required Hague parenting/adopting courses (The Hague convention - google it - provides important safeguards for the child and the adoptive family to make sure the adoption is right for both sides, and parenting courses are part of the requirements)
Provide all travel arrangements, hotel accomodations in China, shuttle service, etc.
Interpreters, tour guides in China
Travel insurance
Mobile phone with prepaid minutes while in China
Bilingual passport name for child
Third party doctor review for child's medical records
On call doctor and prescriptions for child while traveling
Plus a travel backpack for the child, language flashcards, stuff like that to make the trip home easier

AND there is a lot more.   These are not just fees, and you do not "pay to adopt a child".  So many services are provided, and it gets tricky dealing with another country.  
When the paperwork is processed and both the US and China agree to this adoption, I will be required to travel to China and stay there for 14 days to learn the culture, meet with Chinese officials, meet with RoRo and her caretakers, etc.   

The total cost will run around $30,000 .
I will be completely transparent on how the monies are spent, with documentation and receipts available for anyone who asks.  All monies received will be used solely for the fees toward the adoption.

I'm asking for this financial help for RoRo.   Let's get this little girl home... to a forever home with a forever mom and forever cousins and aunts and uncles and dogs and kitties and bunnies.   Let's give her an education so she can bloom and grow into her full potential to become an amazing adult who can do great things in this world.   

I can't save all the children who need homes.... but I can save this one... with your help.    

Let's do this for RoRo.