Big Suggestion - if you have to get copies of birth certificates from out of state get 3 copies, 1 for immediate use (passport, application, etc.), 1 for your INS application, and 1 to return for state certification. This costs more but should speed things along! Passport application requires you to send a notarized birth certificate with application, which means 1 birth certificate is gone (they say they will return it) for at least 4 weeks. INS (at least the MN office) will start your application with just the application, fingerprint cards and of course your money!! So hopefully, one of the 2 (I know I say 3 now) that I got will be back by the time INS needs it. For all other paperwork 2 copies should be fine.
February 16-18, 1996 My weekend to work and Theresa is home surfing the Web for the first time. Gets list of adoption agencies and sends e-mail to China's Children. Writes to a few other agencies.
February 20, 1996 I go to INS office for application. It is only a 3 mile drive. Notice person doing fingerprints and taking passport photo's.
February 23, 1996 Return to INS for fingerprints and pictures. CLOSED I should have paid more attention. China's Children information arrives. Send request to Washington, D.C. for 2 copies of my birth certificate- certificated. $36.00
February 26, 1996 Call Eagan Police about fingerprints. $10.00 per person no limit to number of sets. Memory says INS charge is $9.00 so I go back to their office. Charge is $9.00 per set. Long line for photos. I go to local AAA office ( we're members) and only pay $7.00 for photo. Go to Post Office in Mendota about 5 miles away for passport applications. Call Eagan PD and make appointment for both to get fingerprinted and for the PD to start criminal history search. Theresa gets fingerprinted and then goes to AAA for passport photos, gets home to find message that criminal histories are ready $5.00 each. Call Nationsbank for info on line of credit from them in association with National Adoption Federation.
February 27, 1996 I go get criminal histories from Eagan, PD. Mail has information from Crossroads Adoption Services.
February 28, 1996 I call Crossroads for application and reservations for informational meeting March 6.
March 1, 1996 Theresa goes to Minnesota state office of records and gets her birth certificate. $16.00 for 2 certificated copies. Mailed application to NationsBank.
March 2, 1996 I can finally get in to PD for fingerprinting. $10.00
March 4, 1996 Saw my doctor, will send notarized letter of health. Started Hepatitis A vaccine. I already have Hepatitis B series completed due to work. Dr. a family practitioner would be honored to be baby's doctor. Has been my doctor for 5+ years so I trust him. Agreed to write prescriptions for medication as listed in the letter from the pediatrician on the Internet. I took copy of the letter with me, and he kept it in my file. He wants to see me again before I go, to recheck my health and I'll get prescriptions then. I have asthma and degenerative disc disease which are both under good control now, but he wants to make sure before I leave that I'm still in good health.
March 5, 1996 Phone call from NationsBank telling us we are approved for line of credit and checking to see if we need any immediately. Hope we won't have to use it but nice to know it is there if we need it.
March 6, 1996 Attend informational meeting at Crossroads and decide to get them to do home study. Will have to attend 2 educational sessions in April before social worker will start adoption (home) study. Theresa decides she will not go to China due to lack of vacation time from new position.
March 7, 1996 Return to Crossroads with completed 35+ page application, last 1040 and $350.00. Social worker will contact us next week. Classes in April are April 8 & 22. Fortunately, I recently changed my schedule so that I'm off those days. I work 3-11pm 7 days straight then have 7 days off. I usually pickup 3-5 shifts on my days off, but that will stop when Tia gets here so that I can be home more with her. Mailed application to China's Children $100.00 for application and $300.00 for translation. Still waiting for birth certificate. As soon as it arrives, will send 1 copy back to Secretary of State for certification. Then I will take other copy to post office in Mendota with passport application, then to INS office with application. INS will accept copy if they have seen the original and note on the copy who saw the original and compared them.
March 8, 1996 Today's mail has the notarized letters from our employer, and letter from Crossroads acknowledging receipt of our application. Still no birth certificate. I called the bank to check and see if the check had cleared, not yet! Check was dated 2/23/96. Maybe it got lost in mail or somewhere. I'll send another tomorrow. Checks for line of credit arrive.
March 10, 1996 Sent additional request to Washington, D.C. for birth certificate after waiting for Saturday's mail.
March 11, 1996 Called Secretary of State for Minnesota. Charge is $5.00 for document if you mail them or if you leave them and come back next day for pickup. Expedited service is $25.00 per document. Called Washington, D.C. about birth certificates and found out that the address I had been given by the Federal government information service was wrong. Listened to voice mail about charges and how to get certificates. At end of 2 minute instructions, is phone number that has been changed. Finally got through to a person whose computer was down. She stated that it takes about 3 weeks by mail!!! Reread Lisa McClure's adoption page and found out that INS will start processing application with money and fingerprints!!!. Will go to bank on way to work for money order for $155.00 (Thanks Lisa, her application was returned due to having a personal check) and will go to INS tomorrow morning and get application started.
March 12, 1996 In mail today, original check and letter for birth certificates, with correspondence stating insufficient funds! Even though check included the fee for 2 certificates and $4.00 for mailing! Also form enclosed wanting more information which I included in 2nd letter. Also letter from my doctor but not notarized, dropped off at office for notarizing on way to work. Went to INS to drop off application on way to work and line was too long, will return tomorrow.
March 13, 1996 Got up at 6:15am and went to INS. Got there at 6:55 and waited as number 1 in line until they opened at 7:30. Door opened and 6 minutes later I left with application accepted, receipt being mailed. Mail today had letter from China's Children acknowledging receipt of application. Ordered video from Tai-Kai Productions.
March 16, 1996 Theresa's sister Connie is visiting and wants to go shopping at Best Buy. I'm just looking at camcorders, since we have decided that Theresa will not be able to go and I want to record the adoption proceedings and scenery of China for her. I'm looking at the regular priced camcorders and Theresa calls me around the counter and shows me a Sharp ViewCam (with the 3" screen for viewing instead of a viewfinder) that is marked down because it has been a demo and is missing the battery charger. We decided to buy it and when the clerk found the box the battery charger was in the box. Saved $215.00 on that purchase.
March 21, 1996 In mail today, copies of marriage certificate and letter (now notarized) from my doctor, also video from Tai-Kai Productions. Go to Kinko's and make 5 copies of everything we currently have. Then go to Crossroads and confirm April dates for classes and turn in a copy of everything we currently have for our file. We watched videotape after Theresa gets home, and it helps to give me some idea of what it will be like while I'm in China. Hopefully, I'll get to go before the end of September because NorthWest airlines is running a test from July to the end of September of direct flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Tokyo and return. The test is adding 3 extra departure days from here to the one currently on Saturday. The extra flights are on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Since I'm making the trip by myself, I think it would be better to fly back with Tia without any stops. China's Children has already told me that currently everyone is meeting in Tokyo then going to China. They offer a group flight which I may take, but it is nice to know that there is a direct flight for about the same amount that they estimate.
March 28, 1996 In mail today a letter from Crossroads telling us who our social worker will be and that we are scheduled for adoption classes April 8 and 22 from 5-7:30pm. This has been a very quiet week just waiting for paperwork already requested to return. As of today, I'm still waiting for my birth certificate which causes my passport application and other associated paperwork to wait also. When I get the birth certificate I will have to send it back to Washington, D.C. (scary after how long this has taken) to get certificated. Oh well!
March 29, 1996 HAPPY DAY!! Birth certificate arrives in mail. I stop at post office on way to work to start passport application. Surrender 1 copy of birth certificate to go with passport application. Am told to expect passport and birth certificate back in 4 weeks. Passport application fee $65.00
March 30, 1996 Thanks to my fellow emailers on the a-parents-china list, I have the address for the certifying agency in Washington, D.C. in less than 12 hours on a Sunday morning! The agency is not the Department of State for the Federal Government but the Authentication and Notary Commission. Mailed the other birth certificate back to be certified.
April 4, 1996 I called China's Children today for some clarifications. Because my birth certificate is from Washington, D.C. it has to be authenticated by the Chinese embassy in Washington and go thru the U.S. State Department there also. I can send the rest of my dossier to Washington or Chicago, my choice. It will cost an additional $4 per document plus the time needed to send everything thru Washington so the rest of the dossier will go to Chicago. Also found out that I can send the portion that we currently have thru the state certification and on to the Consulate in Chicago for authentication without waiting for the rest to arrive. So, I drive down to the Sec. of State for Minnesota's office and leave 9 documents for certification. These include Theresa's birth certificate, our marriage certificate, my medical letter, 2 letters from our employer, our police clearances, financial document and petition to adopt. I went to the post office on the way home and picked up 3 priority mail envelopes and paid for postage, for certified mail with return receipt requested. China's Children also said that I could send these documents on to them and they will hold them until they receive the medical letter and home study report. They will start the processing of our documents without the INS approval and add that when it arrives.
April 5, 1996 Returned to Sec. of State's office
and picked up all of the documents with certificates. Went to copy center
and made 5 copies of each certificate. Mailed original documents with certifications
to the Consulate in Chicago via Priority mail, certified with return receipt
requested and another Priority Mail enevelope inside with postage attached.
I decided to use the US mail because we still have a month until Theresa
can see her MD and it is much cheaper compared to 
or
UPS. I am planning to use for
the last documents to be added to the dossier (Theresa's medical letter,
and home study). After getting the rest of the documents, I will collate
all of the copies sending 1 to China's
Children and take the other 4 copies with
me when I travel. The other 4 copies will also go thru the notarization,
certification, authentication process for the cover letter stating that
I certify that these are original copies. $156.28 spent today.
April 8, 1996 We attended our first education session at Crossroads tonight. The session lasted 2 hours discussing the paperwork requirements to satisfy the state of Minnesota. Not only do we need all of the documents requred for a dossier, we also have to get letters of good conduct from the police departments in every community we have lived in for the past 10 years. The agency needs the addresses of the social services department for each of the counties we have lived in also so that they can send a release signed by us for clearance from them. Also we need a statement from our insurance company on their letterhead verifying coverage of adopted child at time of placement. The Juvenile court in each community must also be contacted with a release of information even though we both have been out of that system for at least 15 years. Theresa and I have moved 4 times since we have been married and at least 3 times apiece before we got married in the past 10 years. In addition to the FBI clearance we have to be cleared by the state equilvent - the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. And I thought we were ahead of the game by having the bulk of our dossier at the Chinese consulate in Chicago. The word tonight is don't expect all of this paperwork back in less than 45 days and the agency can not write the adoption study until it comes back.
April 14, 1996 We are putting our adoption plans on hold for a couple of months. We have talked since 1991 when we left my wife's home town that someday we might return. Since we are not comfortable leaving our child with someone we don't know, and we know very few people here, we have decided to move. Over the next month, we will be looking for work and preparing our house for sale and moving. After we get established and comfortable then we will resume the process. Current target is to have our daughter with us by Christmas. I feel sure that the good LORD has a baby already picked for us and wants us to make this move so that we can have more support and help with raising her. We will be returning to an area that welcomed me with open arms when I first moved there in 1989 and to a church that I still list as the church that I am a member of. We have attended many churches in the past few years as we have moved around, but I still feel most accepted and supported at this church. In addition most of Theresa's family is in the area, we'll live across the road from an aunt & uncle and 1 mile from her parents house. So there will be plenty of help with raising Tia. Also I'll get to ride a tractor more often which is something that I really miss living in the cities.
April 17, 1996 Yesterday's mail brought my birth certificate back from the Authentication and Notary commission in Washington, D.C. with out being certificated. Attached note says the registar's signature must be "live" not stamped as the vital records office in Washington sent out. I will be contacting our respresentative today for help. Also received the return receipt from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago.
April 18, 1996 Today's mail brought back the first part of our dossier from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. I called the social services department in the county where we are moving to and found out that they will do the homestudy for free!! This will really help out financially. Now we need to get Theresa's passport application started so that she can go with me to China to get Tia. We saved enough on the homestudy to be able to afford this and we'll just have to take 3 weeks off from work apiece because of the additional help we will get from her family with caring for Tia. We'll just have to save and pay our bills in advance to cover the shorter period of time.
May 14, 1996 We are currently living on Theresa's family's farm while I continue to look for work and Theresa is working at a local nursing home. Our house has not sold but when we had the chance for one of us to work we moved and took a chance. The adoption is on hold, since we need to be in our home for the home study to be completed. Any and all prayers or other help will be greatly appreciated. Clearwater County Social Services corrected their misstatement and will not be able to do our home study.
September 3, 1996 We sold our house in Eagan and bought a manufactured home and placed it on her brother's farm approximately 1.5 miles east of the family farm. Our home study is complete, thanks to Amy at International Adoption Services, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. We are again gathering documents for our dossier (just need 1 more) and will be sending them all off for certification as soon as we receive our 171-H from INS. We are going to request twins or siblings, trying to get 2 children together. I am now working nights at the hospital in Fosston, MN and we have returned to Grace Chapel and our extended family there. Today we are starting a new email list post-adopt-china to join our other list a-parents-china. Please see mailing list for more information.
October 7, 1996 I've been slow updating this and I aplolgize. Our dossier is complete with half at our new international agency Harrah's Family Services. Because I have done so much work on our application and dossier John and Jackie are offering us a much lower price and more personalized service than China's Children. Even though China's Children stated in one of their newsletters that they would refund application fees, they have refused to refund ours (See November 28) so far. I am currently expecting that our dossier will go to China later this month and we will get our referral by Christmas.
October 28, 1996 Our dossier is enroute to China!! We are now an official waiting couple.
October 31, 1996 Thanks to 
,
I was able to track our dossier arriving in China today.
November 28, 1996 Our last (hopefully) Thanksgiving without a child. China's Children did finally, yesterday, come through with a refund. We have many things to be thankful today, with the biggest being our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. We are also thankful for our families and the support that we have received from them this past year. Due to the delays in China, I am now anticipating a referral in the late part of winter.
This the a record of the current events, accomplishments, and money spent. Check back often as I will update this frequently.
