Hi!  We are Mark and Tiffany (with our 5 year old daughter Veda).  Thank you for taking the time to visit our page!  As you can imagine, it isn't easy for us to put ourselves out there in this way and ask for help. We'll keep this brief.
Tiffany's pregnancy and home birth with our daughter in 2014 was completely uncomplicated. Veda has wanted to be a big sister for a long time and we expected it to be just as easy the next time.  Trying to make her a big sister didn't go as planned however...  Long story short - after 3 miscarriages within 2 years (at 7 weeks, 11 weeks and most devastatingly for us at 16 weeks), we made the decision to not try again for a biological child but instead open our hearts to adoption which is something we had always considered in the back of our minds anyway.  We have chosen to adopt internationally from India for various reasons and Veda is very excited to be a big sister!  This is a great fit for our family.  Tiffany & Mark have both been to India before - in fact Mark proposed to Tiffany at the Taj Mahal. It is a very special place for us and we know there is a special kiddo(s) out there who will make our family complete. 



It takes a village to raise a child and in this case it will take a village to bring one into our lives.  Adoption is extremely expensive and although we both have good jobs, nobody including us, has this kind of money laying around.  We would greatly appreciate ANY help that is willing to be given - every dollar counts!

Adopting a child from India most likely means additional medical expenses as we anticipate the child to have some sort of medical need- one of which we can have addressed here in the U.S. but the child may not have a good chance at life (socially or medically) if they remained in India.

20: We received Jaya's certificate of citizenship on May 11th - almost 3 months to the day of when we came home!
19: Jaya's cleft palate was successfully repaired on April 8th at Gillette by Dr Martin Lacey!
18) TRAVEL!!! In a small nutshell!!! We left for India (with a 5 day travel notice) on January 27th. We arrived to Delhi on January 28th and flew to Agartala on January 29th (Tiffanys 38th birthday).  We took custody of Jaya on January 30th!  We flew back to Delhi on Friday Jan 31 and settled in for the weekend.  The following Monday we had her medical exam, and then initiated the FRRO process (my and Mark's exit permits).  Wednesday we went to the embassy to start her visa process and picked it up on Friday. We flew home the following Monday, an ordeal in itself!!!  Jaya has been adjusting great at home and we couldn't be more happy and excited! Next to get her cleft palate repaired!
17) Tuesday January 21st (Veda's birthday!!) We received a scan of Jaya's passport! We booked our tickets on the 22nd and we travel on the 27th!!!  Hard to believe the time has come!  We will take custody of Jaya on January 30th, a day after Tiffany's birthday!
16) January 8th - The orphanage applied for an expedited passport for Jaya. If all goes well we hope to travel in approximately 4 weeks!!! 
--- Passport was issued January 15th!  As soon as the orphanage receives it and scans it we will be booking travel!
15) Thurs Jan 2nd: We received the Article 23/conformity certificate - one step closer to the passport.  We are continuing to monitor the current political situation, with the epicenter near Tripura where we are travelling. This is due to the Citizenship Amendment Bill that just passed and riots etc have been happening. 
14) Friday Dec 6: We were notified by the agency that we have received the written court order on Dec 3rd - meaning she is officially our daughter!!!!  We expected to hear about the court date and verbal order but did not and just heard about this!  Now they are preparing her birth certificate and passport and once those are in hand we can TRAVEL!!!
13) Home study was completed Wed Dec 4th
12) November 2019: We were notified we had a court date on Nov 2nd but they ran out of time to hear all the cases :( It's anybody's best guess as to when cases are heard again. In the meantime we were notified that our home study is expiring and that we need to do that all over again...  To say this process is not for the faint of heart is an understatement.
11) 9/16/19: we were notified that our case was filed in court.  This is the last step (plus getting her passport) before we can travel!!! It may be another 2-5 months until we travel but we are so close!
10) 9/3/19: we received the NOC (no objection certificate) from India!! This is India’s approval of the adoption! Now the case goes to court and we enter the final phase of the adoption! Yay!!!
9) 6/3/19: We received a referral of a 10 month girl in Tripura, India with a cleft lip and palate!  We consulted with the U of MN adoption medicine clinic who reviewed her documents. We said YES on June 12th!!!! Our agency received the "legally free" certificate on June 21st.  We submitted I-800 (for immigration) and received approval on July 23rd. In the meantime, we submitted our acceptance dossier to India and it's currently in review.  We received our Article 5 and also worked on getting Veda's visa to India (she got a 10 year visa! Mark and I already have ours from previous trips)
8) 4/30/19: CARA (India's central adoption agency) approved our adoption! Now we wait for a match!
7) 2/8/19: we were approved by USCIS (immigration) to adopt! We still wait to hear from India that they have approved our CARA paperwork.
6) 12/18: we are working on clearance through US immigration and putting together our packet to send to India while our final home study report is being written (we have since received copies of our home study). We mailed this packet to USCIS on 12-26-18.
At the same time, we are working on our packet (another application process but more extensive) to send to CARA - India's central adoption agency registration. We just turned this into the agency on 12-28-18. We were notified by USCIS that our application was received on 1/9/19. Also on this day we were notified by our agency that our CARA documents are uploaded to India's system.  Now we wait 2-4 months for their review and approval.  We were summoned by USCIS on 1/22/19 at 8am to get our fingerprints taken for our immigration clearance.  
5) Nov 20: we were approved by the agency to move forward with the adoption! Our home study and application passed!
4) Nov 2nd we started the home study process. Nov 15 will be the 3rd and final meeting for the home study. Nov 20th she will present our case to their group of social workers for approval.
3) Sept 21- final background checks cleared (found out second one we were waiting for since July was unnecessary- delaying the process)- $3000 in fees paid. our file was given to the social work supervisor, who will review our case and assign it to a social worker. Then we can begin the home study process. 
2)  August 2018 we turned in the final pieces of our application packet.
1)  We completed our pre-application in May, and turned in our full application on 6/11/18 

We will keep you updated along our journey and where we are at.  

Here are the expenses broken down and when it is due (and where your money will go):

PAID:
$50 - Fingerprints  (already paid by us)
$140 - Background checks  (already paid by us)
$500 application Fee (already paid by us )
$1,760 Psychological evaluations (NOT covered by insurance as this is not "medically necessary") - (paid 7/13/18 thanks to your donations!)
$500 Pre-Adoption Education - (paid for by us + private donations) on 6/20/18
$500 Accrediting Entity Monitoring & Oversight Fee (paid 9/24/18 thanks to donations!)
$2,500 Home Study Due prior to start of home study (paid 9/24/18 thanks to you!)
$3,950 Program Coordination Fee Part 1 Due upon completion of home study (paid 11/26/18 thanks to your donation and our money. This exhausts our donations.)
$975- application and biometrics (fingerprinting) fees to US immigration for I-800A papers (paid by us on 12/26/18, exhausting our savings. This was an unexpected, third party expense for us)
$125 - to the Secretary of State to get the notarizations apostilled (yes we had to google what this meant too!). 12/28/18
$40- to make 3 sets of color copies of the CARA documents (plus a 4th for our records) 12/28/18
$140 - background check updated (expires after a year) 5/2019
$500-adoption medicine clinic at U of MN (6/4/19)
$7,000 INDIA Country Program Fee #1 Due prior to CARA registration (paid 6/12/19)
$12.73- printing and shipping to USCIS (6/24/19)
$220.35- visa application for Veda (7/3/19)
$52- gift of adoption application fee
$280.39 - Fedex packet to India 7/26/19
$2,766.89- July travel clinic and vaccine expenses (deductible) 
$128.84: Fedex picture book to orphanage (November 2019)
$3,500 INDIA Country Program Fee #2 Due upon receipt of No Objection Certificate (NOC)
$3,000 Program Coordination Fee Part 2 Due upon acceptance of child referral
$1,500 Post-Placement Supervision (up to 3 visits/reports) Due upon acceptance of child referral
$1,000 - 3 Additional Post-Placement Visits/Reports to meet current reporting requirements -Due upon acceptance of child referral
$1,000 Post-Placement Report Deposit (refundable) Due upon acceptance of child referral; refundable upon
completion of child’s adoption finalization and reporting requirements of sending country
$800 - home study update
$105.96 - travel medications (malaria medications and antibiotics)
$442 - "re-adoption" expenses for state of MN (including court fees and birth certificates) 

Surgery and medical expenses: 
~$10,000-$15,000 travel expenses to India

Totals up to approximately $40,000, which may not include additional unexpected expenses incurred along the way or afterwards (such as medical expenses).  

(professional photo credits: wedding photo and family photo-  Andrea Mae Photography, Veda's photo at bottom - Kara Olson Photography