What comes next?

You may be wondering what happens next after the acceptance of a waiting child. The day after we recieved our "call" from Deniece Hess, at CCAI, we recieved our fed ex packet with all of Lian Xin Chu's medial information, developmental information, info about her daily schedule, and the hard copies of the pics. In this packet was also info about the province she is from, instructions and a mailing label for the care package we'll send her, and Instructions of completing the LOI or letter of intent.

This is the official way that we let China know that WE WANT THIS BABY!!!!!!! The form is completed by the agency up top, and we completed the section called "plan of care for the child". CCAI gave us guidelines to use in writing this short statement. Here's how it went:

• We wish very much to adopt Lian Xin Chu, understanding her diagnosis of Ptosis of the eye. We have researched this condition and have consulted with Dr........................, a Pediatrician. Upon returning to the U.S., we will have Lian Xin Chu evaluated and treated for her condition. If additional consultation is needed, we will consult the Children's Hospital of Atlanta. We have excellent health care insurance and will provide the best medical care available. We will make sure that she has access to the best educational opportunities, and we will love and nurture her. We will do everything in our ability to give her a happy, healthy life, and she will have a large extended family to welcome her. We accept Lian Xin Chu, and cant wait to welcome her into our loving family.

We then promptly fed exed this back to our agency with some other paperwork and contacted our Social Worker for a homestudy update, approving us for a waiting child.

Now we wait 60 to 90 days for travel approval, and then we'll travel anywhere from one to four weeks after TA arrives. Now the interesting thing is that TA's have been coming really fast lately, with some in my agency receiving them after 38 days, 54 days, etc. Of course, thats what I'm hoping for, because I cant get this baby home fast enough!