Matched!

As you may know, our desire to adopt a sibling for Isabelle included a willingness to agree to a child with "special needs." Isabelle was technically a special needs child, but with the exception of being noticably smaller than children of the same age you would never know.

Our application and required home study both specified the fact that we were particularly interested in a child with the same challenges as Isabelle. We have studied extensively about it and have identified medical experts to help in her care, so we thought we could easily accept a child in a similar situation. (An added plus is the waiting time for a child with special needs is significantly shorter than the 4-year wait currently being experienced by those looking for a completely healthy child.)

But as the lists of children with such needs have come out of China over the last several months, there were none with the same needs. So we decided to broaden our horizons a bit. We contacted our case worker at WACAP and discussed the possibility of accepting a child with a different need.

It didn't take long. A couple of days later I got a call at work from Diann. She asked if I had time available to look at some information we had received about a child. She informed me that we were working under a tight deadline; we had until 5:00 that afternoon to decide if we were interested in this child. Fortunately I was able to juggle a couple of things, and the events of the next hour or so are nothing short of divinely guided.

Those of you who know us know that we are people of faith. And I can tell you unequivocally that we were prompted to expand our search to include other needs. Because as I looked at the 3 pictures we received, and reviewed the brief history and medical information we were provided, I had an overwhelming impression that our Heavenly Father wanted us to take care of this little girl.

In these situations it is common practice, before accepting a referral, to have the child's medical records reviewed by a doctor specializing in international adoptions. We had already identified an expert at UAB, and were fortunate that she was available for consultation later that day. After she helped us understand the nature of this little girl's issues we were confident that we could provide the care she needs.

The next step was to draft a letter to the Chinese adoption authorities expressing our interest in adopting the child, and detailing our understanding of her needs and the steps we would take to provide the necessary care. The letter was written and sent to WACAP by the 5:00pm deadline, and just like that our family became "locked-in" for the eventual adoption of a little girl who is now known as Xia. (pronounced shee-AH) I say eventual because there is still a series of formalities that must occur before we are invited to go to China and add this little girl to our family.

But in the meantime, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Xia. She will be 2 years old next month and is currently living in one of the northern provinces of China. (This will be a different experience for us, as Isabelle had lived in a southern, coastal province.)

When Xia joins our family, we intend to have her be known as Chloe Mei Xia. Chloe was the name of my paternal great-grandmother, and a name which we really like. The middle name Mei is taken from the Chinese for "little sister." And, as we did with Isabelle, we are using her Chinese given name as a second middle name in an attempt to help instill a tie to her heritage.

What a wonderful, early Christmas gift! Kaycie and Ravyn have already shown the same loving excitement they did when Isabelle arrived (thank you, girls!) and Isabelle can't stop talking about all the things she's going to help Chloe learn. We are truly blessed.

LID!

Those in the Chinese adoption community will recognize the acronym in the title of this post. Yes, we have a log-in date (LID). For the rest of you, the final real hurdle, other than being matched with a child, is to have your dossier logged-in by the China Center of Adoption Affairs - - - or CCAA. And we received word today that we were logged-in on 9/28/09.

Since we will be adopting a child with special needs, we won't be waiting the almost 4 years that those waiting for a completely healthy child will wait. But there's no telling when we'll find this child. We knew immediately when we saw Isabelle's picture that she was meant for us. And we have faith that we'll be similarly guided this time.

The Waiting Game

I have said, only somewhat jokingly, on many occasions that biological parents should be required to jump through all of the hoops adoptive parents are faced with. I guarantee you we'd all be better parents and by extension society would benefit. But enough of my editorial comment.

We have received the last official clearance needed from this side of the Pacific. The U.S. government, specifically the Department of Homeland Security, has approved our application to adopt from China. The approval to our I-800A application is very specific. It states the we're approved to adopt a female up to 24 months old, from China, with certain minor medical issues.

In the meantime our placement agency, WACAP, has been busy verifying the authenticity of all of the documents and notarized statements we provided for our dossier. We're told this should be completed in the next couple of weeks, and then our dossier will be placed in the hands of the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA.)

While all of this is happening, we are working on a project that we would like to invite you to participate in. We are creating something called a "100 Good Wishes Quilt." To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei -- or "100 Good Wishes Quilt."

It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. We invite you to please participate in this project.

We love the idea of welcoming this child into our home with a quilt that represents the good wishes you are all sending her way. Here is what we would like you to do:

1. Choose ANY 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from clothing or from a fabric store. It just needs to be a design and color that you like.

2. Cut ONE 6" X 6" square from the fabric.

3. Include your "good wish note". We will place all your wishes in a scrapbook that we will give to the child.

Ideas for selecting fabric squares:
*Select a fabric that is meaningful to you.
*100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears better.
*If there are several members in your family, please feel free to send more than 1 piece of fabric. It would be so special to include good wishes from all members of your family!! In China, these quilts were originally made from garments of family and friends, which would surround the child with luck/good wishes.

Ideas for good wishes note:
Well...what would you wish for an adopted child for her life? Some ideas that come to mind are good health, perseverance, compassion, and sense of humor. Use that as a guide for your good wish note. Keep in mind that she will not read or understand your note until she is older. Also, please include a small piece of fabric on the wish.

If possible, we would like to get the fabric and notes by Thanksgiving. The quilt is being designed and assembled as a family project over the holidays. Please take a few minutes from your busy schedules to help us create this very special keepsake for Isabelle's sibling.

If you're interested in participating in this project, please leave a comment with your email address. We'll email you the address to which you can send your fabric and good wishes.

Thank you!!!

The Journey Begins Again

A little more than two years ago, we sat in the waiting area of the Adoption Registry Center of Guangdong Province, China. Somewhere in an adjoining room Shan Wei Chun, now known as Isabelle, was about to being the transition that would bring more joy to our family than we could have ever imagined.

Not long after Isabelle joined our family, we began feeling strongly that she needed a sibling close to her own age. The youngest of our other children is more than 11 years older than her. And while her two older sisters love and care for her beyond our wildest expectations, we realized that by time time Isabelle is 7 she would probably be left without anyone but us to play with. Besides, we initially began the adoption process hoping to make a difference. And if making a difference for one little girl can bring us so much joy, imagine how wonderful it would be if we had two!

When we first decided to adopt from China, we came across a supposed "Chinese Legend" that summed up our feelings for what we were doing. It is call the Legend of the Red Thread, and says very simply: "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." As we work toward adding another little spirit to our family, this will once again be our thought. Only this time we're adding a second red thread to the one already established.

We have finally finished the paper chase that is the international adoption process, and have been accepted into the China program at WACAP, our adoption facilitator. We now look forward to untangling that second red thread and finding that daughter of God in a foreign land who is meant to join our family. Through this blog we will share with you that journey.