Welcome to our Journey to Ellie blog!
Our adoption story has become a complicated one. We started off in the NSN program with Great Wall China Adoption (GWCA) - a wonderful agency! We had indicated in our home study that we are interested in adopting a SN or NSN child, but were not looking at Waiting Child Lists until one day I received an email from IAAP about their latest WC List. After letting this email sit in my inbox for a few days, I looked at the list - mostly just to see the sweet little faces. As I scanned the long list of names, birth dates, and special needs, I kept returning over and over to one little girl - a little girl whose online information had been viewed over 2,000 times, and who still did not have a home! Further investigation showed that in addition to repaired cleft lip and palate, her medical report showed a positive result to her first Hepatitis B surface antigen test. I figured this must be what was scaring potential parents away.
For a couple of days, I returned over and over to look at her sweet face. I didn't even tell Brooks that I had fallen in love with this child! On Thursday, March 1st, I called Brooks at work and asked, "Can we adopt a Hepatitis B positive child?" His answer: "Yeah, why not?"!!! After seeing her photos, he said, "I want to be this little girl's Daddy." I called Cheryl at IAAP and told her that we knew Hong Xiao Ying was our daughter. Unfortunately, Cheryl had to report to me that the CCAA would no longer allow agencies to work together to bring SN children home, so we'd have to withdraw our dossier, quit GWCA, lose all the money we'd already paid to GWCA, and start all over again with IAAP. It took us all of an hour to decide that we had no choice but to do it! Xiao Ying is definitely our child! GWCA agreed that this was the only way we could do this, so they wrote a letter in support of our decision and forwarded that to the CCAA, along with our letter requesting the withdrawal of our dossier in order to pursue this adoption. At the same time, IAAP translated and submitted our Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt Xiao Ying. We received Pre-Approval (PA) through IAAP on 4/9/07 - just days after finding out that the CCAA preferred that instead of withdrawing our dossier, IAAP should release Xiao Ying's file to GWCA, so that we could continue to pursue her adoption through GWCA.
On 6/1, GWCA received our daughter's file. That same day, we re-wrote our Letter of Intent (LOI), and then it was again translated and reached the CCAA on 6/5/07. Two days later, they granted us our second PA!
Now we're waiting for our LOA - Letter of Acceptance - otherwise known as the Letter Seeking Confirmation. This is a letter from the CCAA which we sign to indicate that we do indeed intend to adopt Xiao Ying. A couple of weeks after this, we should receive Travel Approval (TA), and the hectic travel arrangements will begin!
-Dianne
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11 months old, February 2007
Come follow along as we travel to bring our Ellie home from China!
Our Photos
Eleanor Ruth XiaoYing Garrett-Jones
11 months old, February 2007
China is 12 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Time:
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We are the Garrett-Jones family - Dianne, Brooks, Britt, and Liam. We'll soon travel to China to bring our newest family member home - Ellie!
Dianne, Brooks, Britt, Liam, and Dianne's sister Suzanne will be traveling together to Beijing, Nanchang (where Ellie currently lives), and Guangzhou!
Dianne, Brooks, Britt, Liam, and Dianne's sister Suzanne will be traveling together to Beijing, Nanchang (where Ellie currently lives), and Guangzhou!
Our Adoption Timeline
Submitted application to GWCA: 2/2006
DTC: 6/16/06
LID: 6/23/06
Submitted 1st LOI thru IAAP: 3/8/07
Received 1st PA thru IAAP: 4/9/07
IAAP returned Ellie's file to the CCAA for agency transfer: 4/20/07
GWCA received Ellie's File from the CCAA: 6/1/07
Submitted 2nd LOI to GWCA: 6/1/07
GWCA sent 2nd LOI to the CCAA: 6/5/07
The CCAA granted 2nd PA: 6/7/07
GWCA notified us of 2nd PA: 6/14/07
LOA: 7/30/07
TA: 8/20/07
DTC: 6/16/06
LID: 6/23/06
Submitted 1st LOI thru IAAP: 3/8/07
Received 1st PA thru IAAP: 4/9/07
IAAP returned Ellie's file to the CCAA for agency transfer: 4/20/07
GWCA received Ellie's File from the CCAA: 6/1/07
Submitted 2nd LOI to GWCA: 6/1/07
GWCA sent 2nd LOI to the CCAA: 6/5/07
The CCAA granted 2nd PA: 6/7/07
GWCA notified us of 2nd PA: 6/14/07
LOA: 7/30/07
TA: 8/20/07
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What We Know About Our EllieRu!
Taken from her 11/20/06 Development Report:
Hong Xiao Ying was born on March 30, 2006. She was sent to the Nanchang Social Welfare Institute in Jiangxi Province by the police station on April 12, 2006. The children's department estimated her birthday and gave her a name. Her physical development was as follows: height 49 cm; weight 3.6 kg; head circumference 34.5; chest circumference 33 cm. She has left cleft lip and bilateral cleft palate. She was lovely and chubby.
On her arrival, she was just half a month old. She was good at feeding and drank a lot of milk. Sometimes she would spit up some milk. When she was one month old, she reacted to sounds, watched adults' faces when drinking milk or when spoken to, and turned her eyes and head toward light. When she was two months old, she could move her hands and feet well and use her feet to kick her quilt. Sometimes she uttered the sound of "er . . . er." When she was three months old, she could turn her head toward acquaintances and visually followed moving objects. She had a ready smile. When she was four months old, she could raise her head and grasp objects near her hand. She liked to be teased by adults and laughed aloud. When between five and six months old, she was able to utter all kinds of sounds, began to distinguish between strangers and acquaintances. She knew her own name. At seven months old, she cound sit alone steadily, and was very lovely and active. When hearing music, she will sway her hands. She is fond of being taken out to play by her foster mother. She seldom gets ill, except for occasional colds.
April 18, 2007 Update (provided by our friend Ann in Guangzhou):
Weight: 10 kg; height: 77 cm; head circumference: 43 cm; chest circumference: 45 cm; foot length: 12 cm; teeth: 4 upper, 4 lower. She uses a cup, not a bottle. She only wears a diaper at night. She can stand by herself if she holds onto something, and is just beginning to walk. She is very sweet and girly!!!
Hong Xiao Ying was born on March 30, 2006. She was sent to the Nanchang Social Welfare Institute in Jiangxi Province by the police station on April 12, 2006. The children's department estimated her birthday and gave her a name. Her physical development was as follows: height 49 cm; weight 3.6 kg; head circumference 34.5; chest circumference 33 cm. She has left cleft lip and bilateral cleft palate. She was lovely and chubby.
On her arrival, she was just half a month old. She was good at feeding and drank a lot of milk. Sometimes she would spit up some milk. When she was one month old, she reacted to sounds, watched adults' faces when drinking milk or when spoken to, and turned her eyes and head toward light. When she was two months old, she could move her hands and feet well and use her feet to kick her quilt. Sometimes she uttered the sound of "er . . . er." When she was three months old, she could turn her head toward acquaintances and visually followed moving objects. She had a ready smile. When she was four months old, she could raise her head and grasp objects near her hand. She liked to be teased by adults and laughed aloud. When between five and six months old, she was able to utter all kinds of sounds, began to distinguish between strangers and acquaintances. She knew her own name. At seven months old, she cound sit alone steadily, and was very lovely and active. When hearing music, she will sway her hands. She is fond of being taken out to play by her foster mother. She seldom gets ill, except for occasional colds.
April 18, 2007 Update (provided by our friend Ann in Guangzhou):
Weight: 10 kg; height: 77 cm; head circumference: 43 cm; chest circumference: 45 cm; foot length: 12 cm; teeth: 4 upper, 4 lower. She uses a cup, not a bottle. She only wears a diaper at night. She can stand by herself if she holds onto something, and is just beginning to walk. She is very sweet and girly!!!
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