Monday: Paperwork Day

Photo by Big Brother Levi

At 9:00am today we went back to the Civil Affairs Building in Nanchang....there were 10-15 familes who received babies yesterday, including a large group from Spain. All of us were there at the Civil Affairs Building going through the same process. When we received Ming yesterday the experience was a quick hand off. The babies normally cry, so the protocol is to let the parents go back to the hotel with the baby and get aquainted. This morning we completed our paperwork, including a family photo for the adoption certificate, a passport photo for Ming, and an interview with a government official. The experience was quick and easy. It concluded as the government official gave us a gift (a porcelain vase made in Nanchang), and we gave her the gift we brought for her (a nice pen).

This paperwork is a tiring experience!
Next we traveled to the notary building to finalize the certificate of adoption. Like many things in China, it often takes several steps to get something done when it seems like they could just be combined. At the notary building we bumped into the European group again. More passport checks, data validation, and another interview about why we are adopting from China, concluding with our commitment to give Ming a good education. We offered another small gift to the notary official, and voila! - Ming was ours. It will take a few more days to finalize the passport, but we are "official!"