It's a Girl!!!

Today I received Pre-Approval!

For my non-adoption-centric readers: Pre-Approval (PA) is a formal letter you receive from China after you've submitted a formal letter to China (Letter of Intent, or LOI) requesting permission to adopt a particular child. The letter has to include information about you, your plans for the child, and a promise to never abuse, harm or abandon the child.

A little over six weeks ago, I requested the file of a little girl who had just turned two years old. The adoption agency put her file on hold for us, on the condition we have it reviewed by a physician. We had 72 hours to consult with the doctor and decide.

Chris and I had two different consultations with International Adoption Pediatricians, one in San Diego and one from Johns Hopkins. Then we had a specialist from Johns Hopkins review her file.

Our 72 hours were up. I wrote the letter and submitted it to the agency. They sent it to China.

And we waited. For six weeks, we waited. (I have seen people receive their PA in a matter of days. Six weeks is nearly unheard of.)

But today, the good news came!

I am not yet able to share pictures or any real information, but she just turned two years old and she's cute as a button! As far as her medical condition, we are, for right now, electing to keep that information private. We may decide to share it in the future, but we want her to have every opportunity without anyone's preconceived notions. Besides, she may not want people to know her medical history. And if that is the case, we want to respect that. Her story belongs to her, and only her.

Our next step is to finish up our home study and then submit a request to immigration, asking for permission from the US government to adopt a child born in a different country. Once that is done, I will send all of my paperwork (my dossier) to China. From there, we will wait for the official Letter of Approval (LOA) to adopt this little girl. After that, we wait for our invitation to travel to China. We will be in China for about two weeks.

If you know me, you know I'm not an overly sappy person. (And if you don't know me, you now know I'm not an overly sappy person because I just told you.) But today, I think maybe I have allergies because my eyes keep welling up...

On the other side of the world, a little girl is waiting. She doesn't know she's waiting. She doesn't know she is loved.

We cannot wait to tell her.