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

An Oath, and a Step Closer to Finished

The trip to the highly-secured U.S. consulate office was a quick one. The main objective of the appointment was for the parents to take an oath that "all their responses in the paperwork for the child's visa are true."

About an hour (and many screaming babies) after they entered the building, the Hahns emerged from the Consulate office with the rest of the group, a huge collection of new parents from about four adoption agencies. "The place was packed, and I honestly don't know why we had to wait that long." Apparently, the swearing took no more than five minutes, but everyone was made to wait in line for almost an hour. "Another of the U.S. side bureaucracies," says Elizabeth.

-Aurora Santiago