International Adoption Stories

International Testimonials from Americans Adopting Orphans.

Personal stories of adoption from parents and families who have brought their family together through the joy of adoption. Learn more about their experiences, thoughts, and happiness in choosing adoption.

We were very happy with Americans Adopting Orphans for the first adoption but, are even more satisfied the second and third times around. Every time something business related is sent to them by a client their staff sends out a post card confirming it was received.

We always thought we wanted to have a biological child of our own and than adopt. When the initial order of having our family did not become reality, we moved forward with adoption. I grieved for about 1 month or so knowing I would never look into the eyes of a child born of my husband and I and then I focused on the bright side like– no labor and no debates about breast feeding.

On seeing our daughter for the first time: There we were in the hotel room, waiting for the babies to arrive. We were told they were traveling by car from their town which was about 2 hours away. We were jittery and excited not sure where to sit or what to talk about. Shortly we heard the bell of the elevator and then we saw them carrying the babies right into our room.

We found Americans Adopting Orphans to be very helpful and resourceful in explaining the adoption process to us and getting things done in a timely fashion. Even though we live in PA and they are based in WA, we have found them to be better at informing their clients and offering client-oriented service than even an agency closer to our home would have done.

Well after 2 1/2 years of waiting and anticipation, our beautiful daughter is in her crib sleeping in Texas !! There were many ups and down during the long wait, but Dave, Cindy, and Edd at AAO held our hands the entire time. There was not a moment during the process that we felt alone in our quest to have this child.

Lily and I bonded immediately when we met one another. You hear stories about how that does not happen, but it happened with us. My husband Dave and I had read a book on the plane over to China called "becoming a family" and applied some of the principles the authors had shared with us, so Lily knew I was her "forever mama."

When we traveled to China to adopt our first daughter, Madison, in August 2004, I was a little concerned about what the trip would be like. Would we spend 10 hours a day touring the countryside with a crying baby? Would their be stacks of paperwork to fill out while our minds were cloudy from jet lag and possibly a little culture shock? What would we do if we were in a situation that required medical care? Would we be able to communicate with the people there, from cab drivers to officials?

This is a day we'd been waiting for for 2.5 yrs. We packed our diaper bag for the first time, boarded the bus with the other members of our group, and off we went. Richard said "today you will get your babies." I almost burst into tears.

Our journey to Autumn Praise started several years ago. God had blessed us with two beautiful boys and I really thought I felt complete. Boy, or should I say, girl, was I wrong! My husband and I began praying for orphans on a regular basis after receiving mail that gave data on the number of orphans around the world. About a year later, we were starting the process to adopt from China! We live in GA so naturally we called several agencies here and never felt a real connection.