Our Story

It all began in June of 2004 when we started considering adopting a baby.  We decided to adopt from China for many reasons . . . our close friends and neighbors have a daughter who was born in China that we adore; we knew the children in China are well taken care of, tend to be healthy and are available for adoption at a relatively young age. We both also really like and appreciate the Asian culture and have traveled to Asia multiple times.

To get started, we went to an orientation meeting at a local adoption agency.  We took a packet that night and started filling out the application paperwork.  Our agency paperwork was turned in the beginning of July and then we just waited to begin our homestudy.  At the same time we started what is fondly called "The Paperchase." 

The Paperchase

So what exactly is a paperchase?  The short answer is it's the gathering of all the documents China requires to be sent to them in order to adopt.  This collection of documents is called your dossier and it's what you spend all your time doing for about the first four months in the process.  You need birth certificates, your marriage license, paperwork from your doctor, police clearance letters, a completed homestudy, employment verification, financial statements, a letter to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs and form 171H from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is now part of the Deparment of Homeland Security.  You need to be fingerprinted - twice! - during this process and once you have a document you then need to have it notarized, then authenticated by the Secretary of State in the state it originated in and finally certified by the Chinese Consulate that represents that state.  For us that meant 14 documents, four Secretary of States and four Chinese Consulates.  I couldn't have gotten it done without the help of three adoptive moms who are also couriers and hand carried our documents to the Consulates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago!  I also made a trip to downtown Chicago to both the Secretary of State and the Chinese Consulate.

DTC...Finally

I was determined to complete the paperchase quickly but what is it they say about the best laid plans? 

Our homestudy was finally completed in October and was sent to USCIS on October 5.  We received our 171H a month later.  At the same time we decided to change adoption agencies.  People don't normally switch agencies midstream but it was a great decision for us.  On November 12, 2004, Harrah's Family Services sent our dossier to China.  We were actually able to track it via FedEx and see it arrive at the China Center for Adoption Affairs on November 15, 2004.  It was logged in a few days later on November 19. 

Our Referral

We received our referral on May 23. Sherry, from Harrah's, asked me if I'd purchased one crib or two. I told her just one. She then said, "You better go buy another crib!" I then tentatively asked, "Is it twins?" She then nearly yelled, "Yes!" From that moment on my mind went blank. I didn't write down one thing she told me, didn't ask one of my neatly-typed questions and was basically completely overwhelmed.