China Adoption

An Adoption Story from China-- "The Best Christmas Ever?"

Our adoption story

I don’t know what Santa brought you for Christmas, but I can promise you that our gift was the best!! That gift was our precious daughter, Maya, who we met and adopted in China over the Christmas holidays. Maya brings so much joy to our lives everyday, she is truly the gift that keeps on giving!!

Many people ask us “What made you decide to adopt?” That's a very good question, especially when you consider that Mike and I are in our forties, have grown children (in their 20’s) and have the freedom and flexibility to do anything we want with our lives. Goodness! We will also become grandparents in the next few weeks! What were we thinking???

The truth is, we love children. After we married 8.5 years ago we tried unsuccessfully to have a family of our own. Sadly, that didn’t turn out to be a part of God’s plan for us, at least not in the conventional sense. We didn’t initially consider adoption an option for us. We had many questions and concerns and I wasn't sure I could love a child that wasn't biologically mine. In 2001, our thoughts began to change when my twin sister, Amanda, and her husband, David, adopted four children (siblings) from the Georgia foster care system.

Like our family, Amanda and David already had three grown children, in their early twenties, when they chose to adopt. Mike and I have seen how good it has been for these beautiful kids to be given a permanent home and a forever family. My sister, Amanda, is a wonderful advocate of adoption and her example, and that of her family, inspired us to think about the possibilities of adoption.

Sometime in early 2003, we became aware of the very sad situation regarding the unbelievably large number of abandoned baby girls living in orphanages in China. Some of these precious girls are probably born to mothers out of wedlock in the poor, rural areas of China, but the majority of these cases are directly related to the country’s “One Child Policy” and the cultural preference of sons over daughters. When you read the information that is available on this situation, it will break your heart. If it doesn't.... you need to see a doctor and make SURE that your heart is still ticking!! For more information about China’s abandoned daughters, I recommend reading "The Lost Daughters of China" (Karin Evans) or “Wanting A Daughter, Needing A Son” (Kay Ann Johnson), and have a box of tissues handy! You will need them! (more...)

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