This blog will document the tribulations and adventures my husband and I encounter while working towards adopting a baby girl from China.


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We Found Out!
Yesterday, Melanie checked our answering machine late in the afternoon and La Vida had called to let us know that China assigned a child to us. Unfortunately, the adoption agency closed at three yesterday, so we couldn't get a hold of them. They gave us some details and told us to watch our email for more information.

My work email (which is what they have) has been running slow for the past week because of the prevalent virus and worm attacks, so it was a long wait, but by the time we got home yesterday afternoon, the email had come with information about our daughter and some pictures.

Her name is Jiang Wen Zhi (which may mean Beautiful or Cultured (Wen) Writer (Zhi); Jiang, her surname is River). She was born on December 26, 2003 which makes her about 7 months old, a little younger than we were expecting. We will get a full medical report next week, but she is considered healthy and normal. She is from the Chongqing Municipality in the Sichuan Province (south western part of the country).

That is all we know right now. We will talk to the adoption agency first thing Monday morning for more information and the beginning of travel plans. I'm guessing that we will probably travel in September. The agency is having all of her paperwork translated and we should have it later next week.

Melanie and I are very excited. We spent most of last night calling family and telling them the news. This happened much quicker than we thought. When we turned in our paperwork in late February, the waiting time was at least nine months. By June, the Chinese government was down to about six months, which still would put us around late August. We still thought there was another group ahead of us, but they must have combined us. It only took around five months (after the paperwork was processed; we'd been working on this since late last summer).

We're going to try and not get too attached to the picture, because you never know if things may change, but isn't she adorable! She is so cute. I can't wait to meet her in a couple of months.

More details to come as soon as we find out more.
posted by Sean McGurr at 10:00 AM

 
Travel Information
It's been over six weeks since a group last received their child assignments. This is disappointing because there were two groups within a week at the beginning of June and they seemed to be coming on a monthly basis prior to that. This extended wait, when we are "on deck" to receive our assignment, is nerve-racking. Melanie thinks that the Chinese government is on an extended vacation and did the double group last month in anticipation. Whatever the case, I think that any day now, the group ahead of us will hear and then we'll truly be on pins and needles waiting for the phone call.

Meanwhile, our agency has been hard at work prepping us for the travel portion of the trip. Yesterday we received a large packet with information about what to expect while traveling, when we receive our child, and the entire process while in China. There was an example itinerary, packing list, and traveler's information. As we countdown to the day when we meet our daughter, we are both excited and nervous about the entire process. I'm sure if our daughter was aware of what was happening, she would be even more so. It is important for us to be strong for her.

Melanie and I are still trying out names. We've come up with a short list, but will wait until we see a picture of our daughter (with her Chinese name) before naming her. In fact, we will probably go to China with a short list and not decide for good until we see her in person.

We finally got around to watching the National Geographic "Lost Children of China" special that we taped a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the tape we used was old and while the picture was fine, there was no sound. Luckily we were able to us the closed caption feature to follow along. It was an interesting documentary that got us more excited for the trip.

Hopefully there will be an update soon.


posted by Sean McGurr at 10:08 PM