Personal Adoption Story

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?

Our experience was just the opposite of what I had feared. Other than a short walk to a nearby store or restaurant, any excursions outside the hotel and it's general vicinity were guided by our facilitators, Richard and Alexa. We were never away from our hotel for more than three hours at a time, always returning in time for an afternoon nap for the baby -- and us, too! They were very knowledgeable when speaking of Chinese history at a museum in our daughter's provincial capital, as well as when it came to the paperwork required to complete the adoption. Amazingly, we spent far less than an eight-hour day in governmental offices during the entire ten days we were in-country.

When we returned to China in August 2007 to adopt our second daughter, Raegan, our experience was very similar. The only real difference was that we brought our 17-year-old son, Ethan, along with us. Halfway through our stay, Ethan became miserably ill with head congestion, not even wanting to eat or get out of bed. Richard took us to the medical clinic for Raegan's physical for her US Visa, and while we were there, he asked the doctors to look at Ethan. They determined he needed an antibiotic, which thankfully worked before we had to make the long flight home.

Americans Adopting Orphans gave the best service we could have hoped for during both of our trips to China to adopt our beautiful daughters. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we can't wait to have the opportunity to visit the country again - whether through another adoption or a homeland tour for our daughters when they are older. We truly have wonderful adoption stories to tell our daughters and a love for their birthcountry that we can impart to them. Thanks, AAO!

Chris, Tonya, Ethan, Madison (4) and Raegan (2)
Pekin, IL