Prologue

• February 2001 - Louisville, KY - Encouraged by the experience that a close friend of ours has had with her adopted Chinese daughter, Kathy and I attend an adoption orientation meeting held by Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA) at a local church. We already have two biological sons, but have felt for a while that the addition of a daughter would make our family complete. For reasons that we can't fully, rationally explain, we're drawn to the idea of Chinese adoption.
  

• Spring 2001 - Louisville, KY - We spend our Spring working hard to complete the dossier which we will send to the China Center of Adoption Affairs. We solicit reference letters, get medical exams, participate in a home study, complete autobiographies, and fill out seeming endless piles of paperwork. All original documents must be signed and notarized. Each document then requires a second page signed by the County Clerk certifying the signature of the Notary. Then a third page is added to each document signed by the Secretary of the State of Kentucky certifying the signature of the County Clerk. Finally the documents are shipped to Washington where 2 additional pages are added to each. The first page is from the U.S. Department of State, signed by the U.S. Secretary of State, certifying the signature of Kentucky's Secretary of State. The final page is from the Chinese Embassy - presumably it's some sort of additional certification, but we can't really tell since it's written entirely in Chinese. When finished, each document is covered with the official stamps, gold seals, and ribbons which were added by the various levels of government which inspected it. Our completed dossier consists of twelve original documents, each bearing the four additional pages described above - it is a marvelous thing to behold!
  

• July 24, 2001 - Beijing, Peoples Republic of China - Our final dossier, having been translated and shipped by our adoption agency, is received by the China Center of Adoption Affairs. An adopting couple's date to China (commonly referred to as their DTC) is a standard measurement of where they are in the adoption process. We're told by our agency that referrals are currently expected to be received about 1 year after the DTC. Now all we have to do is wait...
  

• February 25, 2002 - Yueyang City, Hunan Province, Peoples Republic of China - Somewhere in this city of five million people, a young woman gives birth to a baby daughter. It is quite possible that this occurs without benefit of a hospital, medical equipment, or even a doctor. Perhaps a midwife is in attendance, or maybe a friend or a relative helps out. Sadly we'll never know anything about this woman or her circumstances - she will forever be nameless and faceless, completely anonymous.
  

• February 28, 2002 - Yueyang City, Hunan Province, Peoples Republic of China - Knowing that, for whatever reason, she will be unable to properly care for this new little life, the woman abandons her baby. It's quite likely that the mother conceals herself somewhere nearby and keeps watch over her baby until it is found. Along with the baby she leaves a note which reads:
  
  "To all with loving hearts:
  My daughter was born on February 25, 2002"
  

• February 28, 2002 - Yueyang City, Hunan Province, Peoples Republic of China - According to the official Chinese Certificate of Abandonment "[the baby] was found abandoned in the left side of the gate of the Gymnasium, Yueyang City on February 28, 2002 and was taken to Yueyang Social Welfare Institute by Wulipai Police Station on February 28, 2002 and was raised."

	The Yueyang City Gymnasium.  Thanks to Lynn Lippitt for this photo.
	The Yueyang City Gymnasium.  Thanks to Lynn Lippitt for this photo.
	Entrance to the Wulipai Police Station in Yueyang.  Thanks to Lynn Lippitt for this photo.

• Spring 2002 - Yueyang Social Welfare Institute - The baby is given the name Yue Chun Xian. Documentation from the Social Welfare Institute explains how her name was selected. "The director of [the] children['s] department of the institution chose the name for her. The first character 'Yue' means that she was born in Yue Yang. In Chinese the second character 'Chun' is Spring, the third character 'Xian' is capable and thoughtful. This name memorizes [sic] that she was sent to this institution in Spring and she was expected to grow up into a beautiful and talented woman."

	Entrance to the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute.  Thanks to Margo Miller for this photo.
	Courtyard of the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute.  Thanks to Margo Miller for this photo.

• October 4, 2002 - Louisville, KY - The long wait finally ends when we receive our referral letter from the China Center of Adoption Affairs. The package includes 2 pictures of our new daughter, Yue Chun Xian, whom we decide to rename Hope Xian Doelling. We immediately sign the referral and return it to our agency. No date was provided for the pictures, but they're obviously not as recent as those taken by Margo Miller in October (see below).

	Yue Chun Xian at the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute.  Photo provided by the Yueyang SWI.
	Yue Chun Xian at the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute.  Photo provided by the Yueyang SWI.

• October 2002 - Yueyang Social Welfare Institute - Margo Miller adopts a daughter from the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute. She is given a tour of the Institute and takes lots of pictures which she posts on the internet. One of her postings is an album titled "Unidentified Babies - October 2002" which includes two pictures of a group of her new daughter's roommates who had not yet been adopted. She writes, "the four babies adopted from our group had been roommates. When we were taken upstairs to their former crib room, these three sweethearts were in the room in their walkers. It was such a bittersweet moment for me." As luck would have it both pictures include Yue Chun Xian. It will be a few months after our return that we happen across these wonderful pictures.

	Yue Chun Xian (lower left) and roommates at the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute.  Thanks to Margo Miller for this photo.
	Yue Chun Xian (foreground) and roommates at the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute  Thanks to Margo Miller for this photo.

• October 31, 2002 - Louisville, KY - We receive notification of our travel dates and itinerary. This package also includes two additional pictures of Hope, which appear to be just a bit more recent than first pair we received. We will leave for China on November 14 and will finally meet Hope for the first time on November 17.

	Yue Chun Xian at the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute.  Photo provided by the Yueyang SWI.
	Yue Chun Xian at the Yueyang Social Welfare Institute.  Photo provided by the Yueyang SWI.