[Venessia]

Okay, after reading here, I pulled our medical forms out to see if we've had this blood test done or not. There is something that it may be. On our form, we have a blood test for HbsAg that came back negative. Is this the Hep test? Sorry, but I really don't know this stuff very well.

I'm so sorry to hear about your delays Soon2B3. It really is discouraging to be kept in limbo for so very long. This should be the year you bring your daughter home, though. So, hang in there.

Best wishes,
Venessia~

[KarenInCa]

yes, thats Hep B. And I want to correct my previous post. Hep B tests do need to be done for the exam, but Hep B shots (to prevent Hep B) are advised but not required.

[soontobethree]

Yes that is it, the HBsag is test for Hep B antigen I believe.

[Venessia]

Phew! Well, that's a relief. I tend to be a worry wart anyway, and after reading what you are going through, I could absolutely see that happening to us!

Again, I really am sorry to hear about the delays you are facing. Hopefully all goes smoothly from here on out!

Gonna be Jade's mommy,
Venessia~

[soontobethree]

Don't let our situation cause you any alarm or concern about yours. Likelly, you are with an agency that does things squeaky clean and you'll be fine. If I have not learned anything else during our three (including this one) international adoptions, I have learned that every adoption is unique.

[Lissa]

I think one important thing to note too is, while we all make a big deal about DTC it's really not the three letters we are all longing to hear. We are waiting for LID, which is Log in Date. Log In Date is when our paperwork has been officially entered into the Chinese system. Even if you have an October DTC of your final document--it may not have been translated until November. That means a LID of November which is an extra month's wait. China is refering once a month right now as oppossed to their earleir policy of giving referals twice a month. The reason why so many agencies are wary to commit to a 5 month wait is because some people are waiting 6 months depending upon when their paperwork was sent to China. If you got your paperwork in toward the end of the month...well your wait may be longer because you weren't offically in the Chinese system until the following month. I'm sorry about your wait. It really sucks. I too had a hold up, but it was caught at the agency level before the dossier was sent to China. We were inadvertantly sent an out of date packet by our agency and it didn't include our Hep tests results or our HIV testing results. If you didn't do those tests, I would be calling the agency ASAP to ask them if you need them done. My agency told me (and I know all agencies are different, so DEFINATELY CHECK as I may very well be wrong) that if the CCAA saw a med form they would log me in, but at referal time, the lack of test results from a Hep test and an HIV test could have held me up in the process. Apparently they don't closely scrutinize the documents until they are actually making the referal. Now is that true? No Idea...but that's what my agency told me so I'm telling you so you can ask your agency just in case. It would be horrible to find out that late you are missing something as simple as a blood test.
Hope you get your referal soon!
Blessings.

[Arlington1]

I realize this falls under "hindsight" but it might be helpful to those starting out.

Our agency provided a list of required documents: The letter of unemployment was one of those listed. The date on the bottom of the list is May 2004. Clearly the unemployment letter is not a new requirement.

Also, our agency made us send them a copy of our dossier BEFORE we had it notarized and authenticated to check for errors. (Yes, I had to run back to the doctors office because the doctor made a mistake)
Although I was upset at the time I can see now how lucky I was to have it caught before it went to the State House, The Consulate or China.

For those of you not at that point yet it might be helpful to have them look over the paperwork ahead of time.

[soontobethree]

If the letter of unemployment was implemented in May 2004, that explains that mystery since our dossier went to China in March, 2004.

I agree, I would not even consider sending my dossier for notarization or authentication without giving it to our agency first. In fact, our agency does not provide that as an option. They require that the documents are given to them and they assemble into the proper format for authentication and certification.

[MissyAmomChina]

Hi All,

I've read through this post with great interest as we were March 04 DTC'rs and my heart goes out to the family that is still waiting....... I am a part of the large March 2004 DTC group, from various agencies and all the agencies represented there received referrals Sept 6th, 7th and 8th.

I also want to point out that the discrepancy between DTC and LID also varies between agencies. We worked with one of the largest agencies and in our case, the agency translates, scrutinizes your documents and hand delivers them to the CCAA. So for us, our papers were mailed to China on the 21rst of March and our log in date was March 25th. So check with your agency and find out what their typical timeline is.

Take care,
Melissa

[soontobethree]

Thank you for your heart felt concern. Actually I misspoke above when I titled the thread, I don't know when our DTC date was, our LID date was March 2004.

[33458]

Don't worry too much about not reading the testing code - my own doctor missed it!
HEPATITIS, doc!
(I had to go back.)

[Arlington1]

I went back into my file. I found an earlier document entitled "China Dossier Instructions" date January 2004. Just to clarify, China may have beena sking for the unemployment letter earlier we just hadn't started the process before then.

I've got my fingers and toes crossed that your'll get this resolved soon.

[hcromwell]

Both of the papers that CCAA have requested from you were asked for by my agency. I don't know though that I would go as far as saying October is your new DTC. I know that 2 or 3 months of the referral wait, according to our agency, is spent getting the dossier translated. I'm sure the majority of yours, with the exception of the two newest papers are already translated. I really can't imagine they would make you wait the 6 months from October, but that's just an assumption on my part. I have absolutely no idea how that would work....and am sorry that you are experiencing this difficulty.
Please let us know when you hear something. We'll be praying, and keeping our fingers crossed, for you.
Hope in PA
DTC 11/12/2004
LID 11/19/2004

[soontobethree]

WE RECEIVED OUR REFERRAL yesterday January 31! It did take longer than other March families but (as predicted) now that we know who our daughter is, we praise God for how HE controls the clock!

[milknshashi]

You must feel so relieved and excited! Start packing!!