Finally! Our long wait to see our daughter's face is over. We met with our social worker today and she reviewed all the information, documents, forms, and bills we'll need to complete to formally accept Lian's referral. How could we not accept her? We, of course, think she's beautiful. Don't you agree?
Oh, one explanation about her hair, or lack thereof. It is common for orphanages in China to shave the baby's heads for hygienic purposes. It keeps them from getting lice and other things like that. I suggested we change her name to Sinead, but Carmen wasn't into it. I guess it will grow back. She's the first short, chubby bald girl I've fallen in love with.
The next question is..."so when are you going to China to bring her back home?". We're not sure yet, but the guess at this point is end of Jan or early Feb. The agency estimates 2-3 months after the referral because there is a lot of work to do between now and then (travel arrangements, visas, reservations, logistics, etc.). The Chinese New Year's is in the middle of February, and this is a very large celebration with many things closing for the festivities, so we're hoping to get in and out before this starts. We'll keep you posted if you're interested. But for now, we'll just enjoy Lian's pictures...and imagine her with hair.
Unfortunately, we still have to wait for our referral information and most importantly the pictures! I emailed and argued with the agency today on a couple of different levels, but due to "agency policy" and the fact that the person translating the documents into English wasn't in the office, they weren't going to be able to email us any pictures. How frustrating! After 2 years, what's another 5 days? At least that's the agency's attitude...
Here is a map that shows the orphanage where Lian Bao Chun is. Lianjiang orphanage is located in the southern part of China, southwest of Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
Here is our timeline:
Summer 2004: Attended our first orientation meeting with a Hartford agency.
Nov 2004: Sent in our initial application.
Jan 2005: Homestudy started.
April: 2005: Homestudy completed
August 2005: Documents send to China
Aug 30, 2005: LID (Documents logged-in at the CCAA in China).
November 30, 2006: Notified of our referral by our agency.
We are finally seeing the end of our long adoption journey. We FINALLY received our referral information today from our agency - but we'll have to wait until next week for all the details, including pictures. Here is what we know now:
Her Name: Lian Bao Chun
Birthday: Mar 4, 2006
Born: Guangdong Province, China
Orphanage: Lianjiang
The SW said she is one of the youngest children in our group. Now we can't wait to see her picture. Seems all we've been doing for the last 2 years is wait!
