When we were waiting to adopt our first daughter from China, it occured to me to search through the Church magazine archives to see if I could find any articles or stories about adoption. I found several, and they buoyed me up and kept me going when I felt discouraged or frustrated. Over the years, I've compiled a fairly comprehensive listing of them and decided to share some of them here. Some are recent stories, some are rather old. They deal with domestic adoption, international adoption, special needs adoption, sibling group adoption, transracial adoption, newborn adoption - you name it. No matter what kind of adoption you may find yourself involved in, you can be blessed by those that have particular meaning for you and your family. Our first story is an inspiring tale of a family who adopted a little girl with spina bifida from Vietnam during Operation Babylift. It helps remind us that international adoption has been around a lot longer than many of us realize!

A Child’s Faith
(Vietnam)

By Loa Andersen, Ensign, Oct. 1996, 16

Little Brian prayed with so much faith that he’d get a baby sister for his birthday—what was I supposed to tell him?

It was an April evening in 1975 in North Carolina. Early spring scents drifted in through the open windows, and soft light filtering through sheer curtains illuminated three-year-old Brian’s blond head as he knelt in prayer. His husky little-boy voice was asking blessings on everybody and everything he could think of.

“Bless my teddy, and Mommy’s sore finger, and my new backpack,” I heard him say. Then my mind wandered to my recent phone call to Mrs. Hebel at the Pearl Buck Foundation. I was anxious to know the latest report about Operation Babylift, a program that was bringing Vietnamese orphans to the United States from Saigon.

“No, Mrs. Andersen,” she had said. “You will not be getting a child this time. We are receiving only 47 children, and your family is number 60 on our approved list.”

Brian said, “And bless my bike, and Daddy’s new car, and …”

I looked again at my son, noticing how his brows knit together as he concentrated in prayer. We were lucky to have him. The doctors had given me little hope of completing my pregnancy successfully, suggesting instead that I terminate the pregnancy rather than subject myself to the risks. I had stubbornly resisted, and we were blessed with healthy Brian. Now we wanted another child, but I was unable to conceive again.

My thoughts were interrupted again when I heard Brian say, “Heavenly Father, please hurry up and send me a baby sister because Mommy’s tummy can’t grow one anymore.”

I suddenly realized that Brian had understood much more of our conversations about babies than I’d imagined.

For the next few days, Brian asked for a baby sister in his nightly prayers. One evening as I tucked him in, we talked about the orphaned Vietnamese children and what it meant to be without a mother or father.

“I hurt for those babies, Mommy,” Brian told me.

“Me, too,” I replied, holding him close.

About three days before his fourth birthday, Brian came running down the stairs in his pajamas, his hair tousled from sleep.

“Mommy!” he shouted excitedly. “Heavenly Father told me I would get a baby sister for my birthday.”

My thoughts and emotions were jumbled. I didn’t want to question Brian’s faith, but I didn’t think that even Heavenly Father gave birthday presents quite like that. I pondered how to handle the situation, which grew in seriousness as Brian proceeded to tell neighbors about his news. When people, many of whom knew we had been trying to adopt for nearly three years, asked me for details, I would sadly shake my head and say that we had heard nothing positive.

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