On October 4, 2002, we received The Call. Somewhere in the province of Jiangxi, in the People’s Republic of China, was a tiny six-month-old baby girl named Feng Yun Gui, and she was ours. The previous fourteen months of waiting melted away, and the next two were spent preparing ourselves and our children for what was about to take place. Bags were packed and childcare was arranged, and on December 4 - two months to the day since we received our referral - we boarded a plane headed for China.

You can see our very own “gotcha” moment here, should your heart desire. It certainly showcases that wonderful moment... more

When we took that first step, neither of us could know how just how many potholes, hills, exits, traffic jams and accidents there would prove to be on that road, or how many beautiful and amazing sights we’d see along the way!

Our dossier went to China in late August 2001 after five months of loving preparation. The very next month, we received devastating news. My husband was losing his job. The ENT physician he was working with had quit, and the hospital didn’t think my husband’s job as an audiologist was safe without an ENT on staff. Because it’s a small hospital, they had no idea how long it would take to recruit another.

We had just hawked everything that wasn’t... more

My husband and I first entered the world of adoption in early 2001. We had a seven-year old, five-year-old, and two-year-old twins at the time, and we began to feel there might be another child for our family. Because I had experienced very difficult pregnancies (for more information about my particular problem, you can read about Cholestasis of Pregnancy here), and because we had recently moved to a smallish town with little specialized health care, we had a pre-pregnancy visit with a local obstetrician to discuss whether another pregnancy was a smart idea. Much to my delight, he was familiar with my diagnosis and alleviated my fears about the level... more