The Larsen Family: Finalizing adoption in Guangzhou

I have 117 emails archived from CCAI (Chinese Children Adoption International) regarding our adoption paperwork and travel plans. We feel like this international adoption process has been a different world with a steep learning curve and unique vocabulary that we didn’t know we were getting into. Here are just a few of the email headings:

Home study and shanghai police clearances
Your dossier has been delivered into the CCCWA
Vaccination exemption form
Documents delivered to the Consulate in Guangzhou
Request for info for John Larsen; GUZ2017534018
Citizenship and Enrollment
CCAI I-800 Provisional Approval Received
USCIS Acceptance Confirmation
Important Immigration Information- Form DS260
Child's New Name
New Plan and Cost
DS260

But our favorite email was called "Great News” — this is the one we were waiting for. It read, "We just received your Consulate appointment confirmation! Your group’s Consulate appointment is confirmed for 4/5/2017. Your group will receive your children’s visa on the afternoon of 4/7/2017.”

John has been the one doing most of the paperwork and I am so grateful for his efforts. We had to use a US address on everything we submitted so we were very grateful for Marcia being kind and prompt to scan all the adoption-related letters that arrived to her address.

The final step of the adoption process took place in Guangzhou. John went back to Shanghai but Mia and I needed to be there for six days to attend three appointments (a doctor's visit, an interview at the consulate, and collecting Mia’s US visa). CCAI organized fun activities for our group to do, such as visiting parks, going on a Safari and meals with our adoption group.

I was so grateful that Eliza was willing to spend her spring break in Guangzhou with us. Eliza flew by herself from Shanghai to Guangzhou. I thought she we was brave to do this but when she arrived at the hotel she acted like it was no big deal.

This is a picture of the adoption group in Guangzhou. We were the only ones living in China. The week was much easier for us since we had already been fostering Mia for over a year. These families were meeting their child for the first time. I felt inspired by all of their stories. One family had been on a wait list for ten years to adopt a Chinese baby without special needs. Everyone else in our group was getting an older child with special needs (one boy was blind, several had heart conditions, one had albinism and one 18 month old girl had Cerebral Palsy). Eliza, as a Mandarin speaker, was a superstar to all of these families! She connected easily with the kids. The parents would have her translate all the time — especially at meals where a lot of the temper tantrums happened. One lady even asked Eliza to babysit for 2 hours because she really needed a break.

We visited a local shopping area with our group. We had a scroll made with Mia’s Chinese name and adoption date on it.

On Sunday we didn’t have any adoption appointments. Eliza, Mia and I took a 30 minute taxi ride to a hotel where the local branch meets. The first people we met in the lobby were Randy and Lynette Johnson, who were teaching English at a local school with a BYU group. We felt a connection right away when we found they were cousins of Dave Johnson (our good friends from Canton and Shanghai). They took us under their wing, sitting next to us for sacrament meeting and providing a fun bag of Easter stickers and coloring pages for Mia. They were Mia’s primary teachers too. When we picked up Mia from Sharing Time they even invited us to their home for lunch. We loved being in their apartment. They were angels to us! They treated us like family. They fed us tacos, pudding, cookies and popcorn — delicious after eating Chinese hotel food for so many days.