| A Single Mom's Reflections on Adoption |
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A Single Mom's Reflections on meeting her daughter in China for the first time.
I am 48 and single. I have a good job and many good friends; however, something was missing from my life- a child. I did not want to leave this world without being a mother. I tried to get pregnant via artificial insemination when I was 42. After I wasted a few thousand dollars, a female doctor advised me that because of my age the chances of me getting pregnant were slim and that I should either spend $10,000.00 on Infetro or adopt. I chose to adopt. A Chinese friend of mine suggested that I adopt from China because of the female abandonment situation there. I agreed and starting searching the Internet for both an adoption and homestudy agency. I began the process in 2001 and brought Victoria home on May 29, 2003. Wait time for a referral was roughly 14 months. Currently the wait time for a referral is 8 months. I had plenty to do before I brought Victoria home, so I kept busy and all of a sudden I was on a plane to China. On account of SARS, I was with the last group of parents before China temporarily closed its doors to those seeking to adopt from China. My friend Peter, who told me he could speak Chinese, accompanied on the trip. Little did I know that Peter spoke Cantonese and we were going to Kunming where they only speak Mandarin. We flew from Newark to Chicago then Chicago to Japan, Japan to Beijing, where we spent the night. The next day we flew from Beijing to Kunming. Someone on our plane had a fever, so we were all put into isolation at the airport, during which time we were fed and asked to fill out temperature charts. We hadn’t a clue what was going on because no one spoke English. Finally, we found someone who spoke both Cantonese and Mandarin. He asked another person if I could use his phone to which the gentlemen agreed and I was finally able to call my facilitator. He told us that he couldn’t get any information from airport officials, but he would be there when we were released. We were released about 5 hours later and there was Shiquo to take us to our hotel room. We went to sleep about 3:30AM and had to get up at 9AM to go to the office to pick the baby up. I was in a daze, however, it was a joy to meet Victoria aka Wu Guang Yu. She looked at me and I looked at her and we bonded. She was not at all afraid to go on to the next adventure. I could sense that she trusted me. Victoria was tiny. She weighed 18 pounds and was 27 inches. She also had skin tags on ears, a terrible upper respiratory cold, an umbilical hernia and she was exposed to TB- all minor illnesses and treatable.  Today Victoria is a happy, healthy, and well-adjusted child. I have never looked back. I truly enjoy every minute of being a mother. I am in the process of returning to China to bring another little girl home. The trip to China was fabulous and I can’t wait to go back. I have been sending the orphanage pictures of Victoria with the hopes that someone will recognize her when we walk in the door. Vicki  Link to this article | Views: 827
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