The Journey to Megan Mei

This blog was specifically created to chronical our journey to Megan Mei Weiss.  We have been on this journey since March 2005. 

March 2005

Brian and I attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in Grand Forks. Of course, Chapman prompts Shoahannah’s Hope (Chinese adoption). The seed is planted.  Brian and I went on a Vision Trip with Campus Crusade to China to minister to college students on a university campus in Beijing.
May 2005
We have a discussion about having another child. I mention adoption from China and Brian says that he would be interested in doing that.
Summer 2005
We spend the summer talking to family members, friends, other families who have adopted from China, and searching the internet for agencies.
September 2005
We start the “paperchase” for your adoption. We chose CCAI (Chinese Children Adoption International) for our agency because I had a friend from work that had just adopted with this agency. CCAI also was on the lower end for expenses and we were the most impressed with their info. We also chose Catholic Charities of ND to do our home study. We picked CCND (Catholic Charities of ND) because they were also less expensive then other agencies and we knew a few people who had used them and really liked the social worker there.
October 2005

We’re working on getting all the papers together. We both get physicals, order birth /marriage certificates, fill out a very detailed biography for home study, list references, get employment/income verification, send for paperwork for fingerprinting to USCIS, order criminal background checks, and write out our adoption petition.
December 2005
We finally get our criminal background check back and get our home study completed. We had 4 visits. Our social worker, Sharon Maier is great. Our home study visits included discussing our biographies, various adoption issues, and things to expect when we get home. Sharon also visited our house and met the girls.
January 2006
We receive our completed home study and start getting things notorized. I spend what seems like a lot of time convincing people that I know what I’m talking about re: specifics on the notorization wordings. We also made an appt. to have our fingerprints done.
February 2006
We get all of our paperwork except the I171H certified by the state and Washington DC and authenticated at the China Embassy. On Feb. 14 we get fingerprinted electronically in Fargo and receive our I171H about 2 weeks later.
April 2006
We send our dossier (which was insured for $1000) to CCAI where it is received 4/3/06. The dossier goes through critical review and is then sent to translation. Our DTC is 4/17/06 and arrives in China on 4/20/06. On 4/28/06 we received notification that our LID is 4/24/06.

I'll spare you the details of the next 4 years and just sum it up as WAITING!  Now, after close to 5 years of waiting, the time is almost here!