AUGUST 13, 2003 » Photos: Final Day in China » Wrapping Up the Trip, Going Home AUGUST 12, 2003 » Photos: U.S. Consulate » Finishing U.S. Papers AUGUST 11, 2003 » Photos: GuangZhou » Medical Exam AUGUST 8, 2003 » Photos: Passport » Finalizing Paperwork AUGUST 7, 2003 » Photos: Trip Through Hunan AUGUST 6, 2003 » In the Orphanage » Photos: Orphanage - Cameras Not Allowed AUGUST 4, 2003 » Changsha, China » Photos: First Day as a Family AUGUST 3, 2003 » Paperwork and Waiting » Photos - Come Together Intro » Adopting a Child from China

The process for adopting a child from China breaks down into three distinct phases: paperwork, waiting, and then, finally... the trip.

Paperwork begins with the preparation of application papers and the "homestudy", a report required by the Chinese government, which aims to ensure that the prospective adopting parents are able to provide a good home for the abandoned child. The homestudy can only be done by a social worker from an accredited institution. Preparation usually takes several months.

After the homestudy is completed, it is submitted with the couple's application papers to the Chinese government for approval. Then, the waiting period begins.

Once approved, the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs matches a child with the parents according to their application specifications. If the parents decide to accept the child, then the final papers (called DTC - Documents to China) are prepared for the couple to travel to China.

The adoption process climaxes in a trip to China. There, the couple meets their child face-to-face, and parents make a required personal appearance at the Chinese Civil Affairs office. There, they are interviewed one last time and made to promise that they will take good care of the child, and never abuse or abandon the baby. Then, the adoption papers are signed. The adoption is now legal, and final.

The couple travels with their new baby from the child's province to the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou to apply for the child's U.S. visa. With proper documentation on hand, they usually get the visa the following day.

What follows is a day-to-day account of the Hahn couple's trip to China. Matthew and Elizabeth Hahn applied for an adoption in January 2002. They received their DTC in May of this year, and are now in Changsha to pick up their baby, Alexandra Hope Xia Hahn.

-Aurora Santiago