"Hi there and congratulations! Today we received your pre-approval from the CCAA!"

通 知

国际中华儿童收养组织:

你们递交的Jacob和 Julie收养河南(省、市、自治区)郑州市儿童福利院儿童郑兰的申请已收到，经过对该家庭为该儿童制定的医疗康复及抚育计划的审核，中国收养中心同意将其申请文件转入收养特殊需要儿童的程序处理，特此告知。

中国收养中心

2011年01月30日

January 30,2011

CHINESE CHILDREN ADOPTION INTERNATIONAL:

The application of Jacob and Julie for adoption of ZHENG LAN from Henan province that you submitted was received. It is hereby advised that with a review of the Rehabilitation and Nurture Plan for the Child made by the family, the China Centre of Adoption Affairs agrees to move this application file into the procedure for adoption of special-need children.

China Centre of Adoption Affairs

LOI Letter

January 24, 2011

To whom it may concern:

Zheng Lan was listed as having Hydrocephalus & Anemia. We took the medical documentation & CAT scans, and her most recent exam & CAT scan from October 2010 to our doctor. Her analysis was that Zheng Lan is healing well, there are no red flags, she appears to be developing well, but there is a possibility that she would need a shunt once she is in the United States (though it was unlikely) to keep the fluid drained, and that the anemia was treatable.

We have been reading up on hydrocephalus and the signs/warnings to watch for, and are meeting with various neurological pediatricians that specialize in Hydrocephalus so that they are up-to-date on her condition and prepared to evaluate her when she is brought home, based on our family doctors recommendation. She will have a follow up CAT scan once in the USA, and medical treatment will be determined upon the results. Her blood will also be tested for the cause of the Anemia so that we can alter her diet and/or obtain the medication needed to treat anemia.

Our other children are VERY excited and have been told about her condition and how it might affect Zheng Lan. We have many family members and friends close that are supportive and willing to help where needed. As parents, we feel that we have the patience and understanding to meet the child’s needs, the willingness to seek help as needed, as well as the compassion needed to accept possible physical and/or mental delays.

We have medical insurance that we plan to pay for the expenses of Zheng Lan’s care.

We accept Zheng Lan as our daughter and cannot wait to bring her home to be part of our family!

Sincerely,

Julie & Jake Anderegg

The Beginning of Our Journey

When Jake and I were dating, we talked about adopting at some point in our lives. It has been my dream. We had 3 children of our own, and then had the impression it was time to begin looking at adopting. We had originally thought we wanted twin girls, not sure from where, but because my husband served with the Asians and had a great love for them, we thought maybe that is where we should start.

We had the opportunity to go to China for my husband's MBA program. We left the kids with Grandma and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We were able to visit an elementary school and spend time with the kids. It was obvious, by the time we arrived home, that China was our destination.

So, we started the LONG process of getting our paperwork done. We completed our Dossier over the process of 6 months, and then submitted it to CCAA (Chinese Children Adoption Agency in China). It was officially logged in on April 24, 2007. They estimated our wait for a "healthy child" (or twins as we had requested) would be 18-24 months. Almost 48 months later, they still estimated the wait to be 2 years away.

In the mean-time, the market went downhill, my husband, a builder, lost his job. We had invested our adoption money in some property, thinking it would be safe there and when it was time, we could sale the property and pay for the adoption. We lost everything when we lost the business because it was all under the business name. We felt hopeless.

My brother and his wife in Missouri had started the process at the same time and accepted a "waiting child," or a child with a known medical condition, about a year ago. She is so darling, and appears to have "no medical condition." She's perfect, full of energy, and a typical 3 year old.

We began to wonder if this was ever going to work out. We wondered if we should go somewhere besides China. We decided we didn't want an infant anymore, and wondered what kinds of "known medical conditions" we could handle, so we began to research, turned in our "medical needs checklist" with all the things we'd be willing to accept, and then searched the photos.

That is where I found Zheng Lan! We pray the Lord will bless our lives and touch others to help us bring her home. It has been a long journey so far, and the most exciting part is just beginning!