ICPC...Huh?

Well we're settling in to our digs here at the Marriott Residence Inn in Ontario California. Here's a tip for anyone waiting on your ICPC paperwork...play the adoption card when checking in. We checked in here the night before picking Sabrina up from the hospital and explained why we were here to the desk clerk. They ended up giving us their best room (the "penthouse") for the price of their cheapest room. We've got a living area, bedroom with French doors (ooh, fancy!) and full bath, a kitchen, and an upstairs loft bedroom with full bath. Not bad. Plus they have hot breakfast every morning and three nights a week free dinner. SOLD!

In a nutshell, here's what ICPC is:

If a child is born in one state, commonly known as the "sending state" and the adoptive family lives in another state, called the "receiving state", the adoption placement must be approved by the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children. (ICPC). All states are members of the ICPC. For the purposes of an adoption, it is illegal to move a child across state lines without meeting the requirements of the ICPC.
The documentation submitted to the ICPC for approval includes the adoptive parents home study, the child's birth information and other health information, biological information on the birth parents, and relinquishment or termination documentation from the birth parents. Documentation for the child and the adopting parents will be forwarded to the ICPC office in the sending state, which will forward the documents to the ICPC office in the receiving state. The ICPC offices review the documentations to verify that their state laws have been complied with.

This entire process can take from a week to three weeks. In the meantime here we are. Being the cook that he is, Gregg determined in advance that he needed to bring his own special pots and pans as he was sure the ones here wouldn't be to his standards. I scoffed at this, but then again tonight I enjoyed delicious meatloaf and mashed potatoes with cheese. Worth it! Tomorrow we're going to take long lunches and walk around Ontario Mills Shopping Center with Sabrina while they clean our suite. Her first shopping trip. Better make sure she doesn't take after Papa...I can't afford that!

On a side note, you probably think Monday morning we jumped out of bed and rushed to the hospital to get Sabrina. Well no. We're gay. We went to Target first. Then the hospital. Tahr-zay, you know.