SUPPLEMENT DATED DECEMBER 16, 2004

                                       to

                         PROSPECTUS DATED MAY 1, 2004*
                          (As Previously Supplemented)

                                       of

                      JOHN HANCOCK VARIABLE SERIES TRUST I
          International Equity Index Fund Series I and Series II Shares

     On December 15, 2004, the Board of Trustees of John Hancock Variable Series
Trust I ("JHVST") unanimously approved a reorganization (the "Reorganization")
pursuant to which each of the separate investment funds of JHVST, including the
International Equity Index Fund, will combine into a substantially similar
separate investment fund of Manufacturers Investment Trust. (Manufacturers
Investment Trust's name will be changed to "John Hancock Trust" as of January 1,
2005, and this prospectus supplement therefore refers to that trust as "JHT.")

     Specifically, the terms of the Reorganization provide that the
International Equity Index Fund Series I and Series II shares will combine into
the International Equity Index Trust A of MIT. The investment manager of JHVST
and the investment manager of JHT are both indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of
Manulife Financial Corporation, a publicly-traded Canadian holding company. The
sub-investment manager for the International Equity Index Trust A (the
"Acquiring Fund") will be SSgA Funds Management, Inc., which also serves in that
capacity for JHVST's International Equity Equity Index Fund (the "Acquired
Fund").

     In approving the Reorganization, the Trustees, including the Trustees who
are not "interested persons" of JHVST or JHT, determined that the proposed
combination of the Series I and Series II shares of the Acquired Fund into the
Acquiring Fund would be in the best interest of the Acquired Fund and its
shareholders (including holders of the Series I and Series II shares), as well
as in the best interest of variable annuity and variable life insurance contract
owners that participate in that fund.

     It is proposed that the Reorganization will occur as of April 29, 2005,
when the outstanding Series I and Series II shares of the Acquired Fund will be
cancelled and, in their place, will be issued, respectively, Series I and Series
II shares of the Acquiring Fund. Thereafter, the Acquired Fund will cease to
exist.

     Under the terms of the Reorganization, the combination of the Series I and
Series II shares of the Acquired Fund into the Acquiring Fund will not occur
unless, among other conditions, the holders of the Series I and Series II shares
of the Acquired Fund vote to approve that combination. Series I and Series II
shareholders of record as of January 31, 2005 will be

----------
     *This document also supplements each May 1, 2004 or later prospectus (as
previously supplemented) with respect to variable annuity or variable life
insurance contracts under which the Series I or Series II shares of the JHVST
International Equity Index Fund are an investment option.



entitled to vote on such approval. Proxy solicitation materials will be mailed
to owners of variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts as of that
date, who will be entitled to give voting instructions for Series I and Series
II shares that are attributable to their contracts. The proxy solicitation
materials will contain detailed information about the Reorganization and the
proposed combination of the Series I and Series II shares of the Acquired Fund
into the Acquiring Fund.

     Under the terms of the Reorganization, each holder of Series I or Series II
shares of the Acquired Fund will receive a number of full and fractional shares
of the Acquiring Fund having a total value equal to the total value of that
shareholder's shares of the Acquired Fund.

Affect of Reorganization for Variable Annuity and Variable Life Insurance
Contracts

     The Acquired Fund serves primarily to support an International Equity Index
investment option under variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts.
Upon the combination of the Series I and Series II shares of the Acquired Fund
into the Acquiring Fund, any investment option based on those Series I or II
shares will thereafter be based on and supported by the Acquiring Fund.

     No holder of a variable annuity or variable life insurance contract that
participates in the Acquired Fund will have any taxable income, gain or loss, or
suffer any other adverse federal income tax consequences, as a result of the
Reorganization.

     Owners of variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts will
continue to be able to make transfers into or out of the variable investment
options that are available under their contracts at the time of transfer.
However, such transfers, and the procedures for making them, will continue to be
subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the applicable prospectus for
the contract from time to time.

     Also any instructions that a contract owner has in effect as to the
International Equity Index investment option will continue to be in effect,
notwithstanding that the option is supported by a different fund (i.e., the
Acquiring Fund) following the Reorganization. Such instructions would include,
for example, instructions concerning allocation of premium payments or charges
under the variable annuity or variable life insurance contract, and instructions
for automatic transactions, such as periodic withdrawals or periodic asset
rebalancing. However, owners will continue to be able to change such
instructions at any time, in the manner and subject to the terms and conditions
set forth in the prospectus for the applicable contract from time to time.

     This supplement is not an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to
buy, shares of the Acquiring Fund. Nor is it a solicitation of any proxy or
voting instructions.

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