Adoption Timeline

Dec 21, 2003 - We finally decided it was time to pursue adoption. After months of research, we have selected Carolina Adoption Services (CAS) as our Agency with China being our destination.

Jan 14,2004 - Submitted our Application with CAS. Our application was accepted by CAS on Jan 20, 2004.

Feb 17, 2004 - Submitted our I600A to Homeland Security.

Feb 27, 2004 - First meeting with Nathanson's Homestudy Agency. One of four visits. The final visit was completed on March 13, 2004.

Mar 19, 2004 - The Simpson Family was in town for Tim's Birthday, so we told them about our decision. They were excited even though we cautioned them about the attachment issues of children from orphanages.

Mar 29, 2004 - Our Homestudy was completed and mailed to Homeland Security.

Apr 10, 2004 - We received our fingerprint appointments.

Apr 12 and 15th - We got our Fingerprints done in Raleigh (Connie 12th/Tim 15th).

May 1, 2004 - Today, we sent most of our Dossier Packet to DC to be authenticated by the US State Department and the Embassy of China. We are just weeks away from being DTC.

May 24, 2004 - It has been 6 weeks since we were fingerprinted. We still have not heard anything from Homeland Security. Our Social Worker is supposed to call them today and check the status of our application.

May 27, 2004 - Today we received a call from our agency to let us know our approval with INS has been approved. It was completed yesterday and went out in today’s mail.

May 29, 2004 - We received out I171H today, so on Tuesday; I will take it to the Secretary of State's Office for Authentication. Then it goes to DC for authentication by the US State Department and the China Embassy.

June 7, 2004 - Today, I hand delivered our Dossier to Agency (DTA) (Carolina Adoption Services). Susan informed us, she will mail out our packet today and we should hear from her by the middle of July with our Logged In Date (LID) or Dossier to China (DTC).

June 18, 2004 - Grace of NY has mailed our dossier to China.

July 1, 2004 - We are officially logged in! Now we wait for our turn. We will be parents before
we know it!

July 24, 2004 - We attended an Asian Class today in Greensboro. We are 5 months out from receiving our little girl(s).

July 31, 2004 - Today, we found out the January, February and March groups are receiving their referrals this week. It looks like we could be receiving our little girl(s) within the next 2 - 4 months.

September 27, 2004 - We are just 1 or 2 batches away from bringing our little girls home.

October 29, 2004 - Rumor mill says we will get a referral in the next 2 weeks (lets hope it is true). We are not far away from holding our little girl/boy in our arms. Our dreams of becoming parents are about to become a reality!

November 9, 2004 - Looks like we will be waiting another 30 days. We got confirmation today that we did not make this round.

December 11, 2004 - We received our referral today. Just 6 months after submitting our Dossier to China. Our dreams of becoming parents have come true! Her Chinese Name is An Ming Gao, we will know her as Brianna May-Gao Simpson. She was born January 2, 2004 in Gaoyou, China.

January 2 2005 - Today is Bri first Birthday. We returned from our family visiting in WV yesterday. Today, we washed and hang all of the clothes we received from Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. Then we visited with Kevin and Paula. While there, we got some great news in the mail. It was the English translation of Bri Medical Report. What a way to start the 2005 year.

January 10, 2005 - Today, we received our travel approval. This is authorization from the Chinese Government to enter China. Now we are waiting to receive our consulate appointment with the US Embassy. We are within a week of travel.

January 16, 2005 - On January 15th, we will drive into Charleston, WV for departure from Yeager Airport to Newark, NJ. We will be spending Sunday night in Newark. Our last nights sleep for quite sometime. Buddy will be visiting Jerry & Sue while we travel to bring Brianna home.

January 17, 2005 - We will arrive at Newark Airport around noon to make our Journey to China. We are China bound around 3:15pm. We arrive in China the 18th at 8:30 pm (7:30 am in the Charleston). We will be leaving Hong Kong on January 29th and headed to the US. Our flight arrives at 11:24 pm.

January 29, 2005 - We arrived home at 1 AM Saturday night / Sunday morning. Since we were still on China time, we were wired. It was great to see our family at the airport to greet us. We left the airport and for the most part, everyone was excited and happy.