So, what's next?

This is the time each month when everything really quiets down. Everyone has received their referrals and all of the news has been shouted from the rafters. But, it's so soon after referrals, that there aren't any rumors yet about the next batch.

I thought I would take a minute and educate everyone as to what will happen next. Hopefully sometime during the first week of April, the next batch of referrals will arrive. The CCAA sends a big package containing information about the babies that have been selected for each family. They typically send them via DHL. As I have mentioned before, they mail all of the packages at once. The European agencies usually receive theirs before the agencies in the US. So, once the European boards start lighting up with information, we know that we will receive ours within a day or two. Likewise, the eastern US agencies will receive theirs a few hours before the agencies in the western states. (don't you love the web and the fact that we can track all of this stuff-that's the power of thousands of adoptive families helping each other!) Our agency is a bit slower than most at turning the files around and getting them back out to the adoptive families. So, if we are a day or two later than everyone else, try not to panic! Also, our agency is an umbrella agency for a dozen or so smaller agencies. This means they have a bit more paper work to sift through. They have to get the files to each of the smaller agencies, so they can contact their families.

This is the typical procedure:
First, we will receive a telephone call from West Sands. They will tell us our daughter's name, her birthday, and the name of the province where she lives.
Second, they will email us a picture of our new little sweetheart. Sometimes you get this the same day, sometimes it takes a little longer.
Third, they will send our file to a translator who will translate all of the information into English.
Fourth, they will mail the file and the translation via FedEx to us. It usually takes another day or so to receive the actual packet.

After we receive our packet, we are required to send a letter of acceptance back to our agency as quickly as possible. They send the letter to translation and then on to the CCAA. At this point, we are once again in the "waiting" place. We now have to wait to receive travel approval (TA) from the Chinese government. This typically takes about a month, but sometimes longer (it depends on how quickly everyone returns their acceptance letters). Oftentimes, they will send the travel approval notices with the next batch of referrals (so for us, that would be the first week or so of May). Sometime around here we will apply for our visas. The next step is for our agency to secure a consulate appointment (CA). Remember that there are many many people from all over the country adopting during that month. All of them are required to make an appointment with the consulate and it is basically first come first serve. One good thing about using a small agency is that they can often squeeze us in on an otherwise full day. Once you know your consulate appointment, you can actually book your airfare and get going. At this point, things can get really crazy. I have seen people have as little notice as 24 hours between the time they get their TA to the time they have to leave for China. Yes, you heard that right...24 hours to book airfare, pack your bags and be on your way. I have also seen them have several weeks notice. It just really depends on how busy the consulate is and when we can get in. Most people try to get all of the stuff done that they need to, during that month between referral and TA. They suggest that you even have your bags packed and ready to go-just in case.

So, there you have it. That is what the next month or two holds in store for our little family. We are so excited. We just want to bring our little Lucie home!