You will be fingerprinted many times as you work toward your adoption in Russia, many times. You'll be fingerprinted at the local level, the state level and by U.S. federal authorities, too. And if your adoption drags on for more than a year, you'll discover what I did: You--and every member of your household over the age of 18--will have to be fingerprinted again.

In the 18 months it took to complete my second adoption in Russia, my recurring trips to get fingerprinted became something of a running joke among my co-workers. "You know," one of them quipped after I had yet another round of prints taken, "you really should go out and shoplift something to make it all worthwhile." (Don't worry, I didn't.)

But you'll probably begin to wonder why all these fingerprints are needed. And you'll definitely ask how it is that fingerprints could possibly expire. Again, remember that while these prints are taken for your adoption from Russia, they are all taken by authorities in the United States; the problems that you'll run into along the way are American, not Russian.

So, what do you need all the fingerprints for?

One of the first sets will likely be for child abuse clearance. These prints are taken by state authorities for your home study to assure that you have never committed violence against a child or jeopardized a child's welfare. Some states implemented mandatory child abuse clearance as a result of troubled adoptions, like the notorious Lisa Steinberg case in New York. But a child abuse clearance is pretty much routine these days for any job that puts the holder in contact with children.

There will be another set of prints taken for a criminal records clearance. In a simpler time, prospective adoptive parents needed only to obtain a statement from their local police department that they had not been involved in any crime. Now, most states will require you to be fingerprinted on a special card at your local police station. The card is forwarded to state police headquarters for clearance there. While many states now use digital systems for child abuse clearances, for some reason criminal checks still lean on the old-fashioned paper and messy ink method.

The U.S. Customs and Immigration Service will want to print you too. These prints are needed for completion of your I-600A, the so-called Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition. USCIS' fingerprinting is all digital, but that won't be a help if your fingerprints expire; I'll explain why in my next post.

Why can't there be just one set of prints? I'll get to that in the next post too.