I remember the first time I heard the word dossier used in terms of adoption. It conjured images of spy networks, ambassadorial portfolios and international intrigue.

"We have a whole dossier on you." "Are my eyes really brown?"

Okay, so I got over the whole ‘Casablanca’ thing pretty quickly.

Dossiers are a compilation of required documents regarding hopeful adoptive parents and come in many shapes and sizes -- all are roughly rectangular and range in length from ridiculously ponderous to seemingly endless. Entire forests (hopefully regenerated for the purpose) are sacrificed for originals, copies, copies of copies, notary statements that copies are copies... more