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.