July is Just Around the Corner

For the first time in four years, we can tell people who ask if we have heard from China that we expect to receive our daughter's referral next month. I often add, "Unless something has gone seriously wrong," by which I mean unless our file was somehow misplaced or we were given an incorrect "log-in date," which refers to the date on which our paperwork was officially entered into the system at the government agency handling adoptions in Beijing. But we should be included in the next batch of referrals.



Sometime in the next couple of weeks, we anticipate that our file and our daughter's file will be in the "matching" room (shown in these photos, taken by another adoptive parent) in Beijing where an employee of the agency will work his or her magic, putting us and our daughter together.

Sometime thereafter, her photo, medical information, and additional paperwork will be sent to A Helping Hand, our adoption agency in Lexington. Then, we'll receive "the call," as it's known in the adoption community. According to the Rumor Queen, an anonymous adoptive mom who provides statistical analysis of referral timelines, the most likely day for referrals to begin arriving would be July 12th!

We couldn't possibly be any more excited!