The Process

If you Google Social Welfare Institute of Maonan District of Maoming City you'll come up with where our little girl is.

In addition to the other sites, you can click on the link that takes you to Half the Sky.  That is the program that is so beneficial there in her orphanage.  You can click through to some of their old newsletters to read more about adoption etc… 

Best we can tell, the process ahead is as follows:

LOI (Letter of Intent) – Submitted Sept. 21, 2009

I submitted my LOI to my agency, Great Wall, via email.  I also submitted passport photos, a family photo, a parent info sheet, and a referral agreement signed by Shawn and I, and payment.  My agency will have my submissions translated and send them to the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) via the online system (which is new and faster!!)

PA (Pre-Approval) – 2-4 weeks later

They will need to review my LOI and other submissions first and pull my dossier (dossier was sent in 2006).  Once they have reviewed and approved the information in my dossier they will issue a Pre-Approval.  The Pre-Approval is typically issued within 2-4 weeks after the LOI is submitted (9/21/10 for us) and is uploaded into the CCAA online system.  My agency will download this document and e-mail it to me as soon as they receive it.

LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation or Letter of Acceptance) – 2-4 weeks later

The letter seeking confirmation is the CCAA's formal referral of this child to our family.  They will issue the LSC after my dossier has been reviewed and approved, and they have officially paired her with us.  The LSC will arrive directly at Great Wall headquarters in Austin.  They will contact us as soon as possible to notify us of its arrival and will overnight it to us to sign. We will return it ASAP.

We will then be free to send a care package and post her information and photo if we wish.

TA (Travel Approval) – 2-4 weeks after LSC

My agency will send the signed LSC back to China.  After the CCAA receives it they will begin working with our child's provincial Civil Affairs office to gain permission for us to travel.  Great Wall should receive our travel approval in 2-4 weeks.  We can expect to travel approximately 4-8 weeks after our signed LSC is returned to the CCAA. Family info and travel documents will be filled out and sent to Great Wall.

Travel – 4-8 weeks after LSC

Once the TA is issued the Travel Advisor will work with the China staff to book all of our adoption appointments and travel arrangements. Great Wall will book all of our intra China flights and hotels.  Per our signed contract the travel arrangements are a package deal.  We are not able to book these on our own.  We will be required to book our own international flights, however the Travel Advisor MUST review our itinerary before we finalize our flights. Usually they add a little sight seeing at the beginning (Bejing) then to the child's province, then to Guangzhou where the American Consulate is.  The famous White Swan Hotel is where many families stay during this process.  However, I've heard that a new Marriott has been built close by.

Upon coming home from China we will have visits with our pediatrician and with the cleft palate team who will assess her.  It is possible she would have surgery within 2 months of being home, though the complete process is at least 4 surgeries over the course of years, like 5 or 10 years. 


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