Monday, April 1, 1996 - On Monday morning, we walked several blocks north, and several blocks east of the White Swan hotel to the medical clinic. There, we filled out the medical application, and then had our children examined.

First each child was weighed. In Chinese style, it was a pretty casual affair with all the babies clothes and blankets left on. I didn't even take Lara out of her sling for her weighing. She came in at around 15 lbs. (After we got home, naked and on the electronic scale, Lara weighed 13 lbs, 5 ounces)

Then a doctor, looked into Lara's eyes, mouth, and ears, and checked to make sure that Lara could hear and see.

The clinic was absolutely packed with babies and children, so we spent a fair bit of time stacked up in the halls, waiting our turn.

Then Lara was taken into an examining room, where she was stripped, poked, and prodded by a very kind doctor, who also listened to her heart.

None of us were worried about our babies passing the test, since we knew that it was only designed to let the U.S. Authorities know whether a child might have a condition that would cause it to become a permanent burden on the American taxpayers.