My journey to my daughter...very long

I thought I would take a few minutes to explain the amazing journey to my new daughter. I am not an overly religious person. Sure we go to Church regularly, although not regularly enough. My kids attend religion classes and we are active in Church activities, but I wouldn't consider myself "religious." I am not exactly sure what that means...to be "religious." Maybe it's a deep understanding of my religion, a deep connection to things "Godly," a deeper understanding of the scriptures that I listen to on Sunday mornings. I am not sure. What I AM sure of is that God had His hand on this adoption far before *I* even knew it was to take place.

A little background on China adoptions. I adopted Emily in 2003 when China was "open" for singles. This meant that single men and women were permitted to adopt from China, with few limitations. One had to meet the eligibility requirements of health, age, finances, heterosexuality, etc. But it was a pretty easy program to adopt from if you met those requirements. Soon after we came home, China put some additional restrictions and limits on singles, imposing a "limit" of how many single people they would approve per year. This significantly reduced the options for single people like myself and there were LONG wait lists for those who still wanted to pursue an adoption from China. I put myself on several wait lists as soon as I came home with Emily as I always knew I wanted two little girls from China. In 2005 we were matched with Alyssa and we were on our way to China once again. A dream come true. Shortly after I came home with Alyssa, China closed to singles all together. That meant that if you were single, you could NOT adopt from China. It was a devastating blow to the China adoption community. For me, I felt complete. I knew that I had completed my family with the adoption of my amazing Alyssa. But it was terribly sad for those single people who had hoped to adopt from China, and now couldn't.

As the years went by, I knew that I wanted to "give back" to the kids left behind. I became involved in an organization that helps orphaned children in China. LWB provides nutrition programs, education, medical assistance, foster care, and so much more for the children waiting to be adopted as well as the kids who will never have the chance to have a forever family. In February I was honored to travel to China on an Education Training trip with Love Without Boundaries. I spent a week with 3 other woman, working in a school in an orphanage in Fujian Province. Our goal was to help the teachers focus their teaching and to help them with strategies with working with the children with special needs. I never met a group of more dedicated teachers. They put their heart and soul into educating these kids and it shows. Of course, the kids were adorable and I would have gladly put a few in my suitcase to smuggle home, but truly I was not adopting again...nor was I able to...remember, China no longer accepted single woman in their adoption program. I met a lot of kids during that week. And I knew on that flight home that I would be returning to China to do another Education Training trip. My life had been transformed. Never in my wildest dreams did adopting one of those kids enter my mind. It was just not an option.

When I got home, I got a series of emails from different advocacy groups and agencies asking me for information about specific kids. They were trying to advocate for and find families to match them with for adoption. I corresponded with a couple on behalf of the kids. I got an email from a Mom inquiring about one particular little girl. We corresponded a few times. For whatever reason, her family decided not to pursue this child for adoption. That child would become my Madi.

On March 14th, China announced that they were re-opening their adoption program to singles. They made the requirements a bit more strict and they would only place certain children with single applicants. Some may consider the group that they would match with singles "harder to place." These children are considered "Special Focus" kids. This simply means that they *may* have special needs (or not), that they are older (many are), or that for one reason or another they just hadn't been matched with a family for the 3-6 months that they were on the "shared list." This was the group of children that were now available for singles to adopt. It was an exciting time and it opened up many options for singles who just want to have a family.

I decided to look into the "eligibility criteria" just so I knew what they were. I was NOT adopting again. But, I am involved in a lot of groups in the Chinese Adoption Community and I am often called for information or references or input about the process. I figured I should know the eligibility criteria should someone call me. One of the criteria states that you may not have more than two children in your home.....and the youngest child MUST be at least 6 years old. Hmmm....first *sign*....Alyssa was to turn 6 years old 3 days later on March 17th. Too bad I don't want to adopt again, huh?

That night I decide to go on Rainbowkids.org to see if any of my kids from my February trip were on there so that maybe I could help advocate for them. On that site if you are a prospective parent you can type in the child's age, gender, and region if you are considering adopting. Once you do that, a photolisting of children that need homes come up. I figured I would start with the girls from 3-5 years old from Asia and see if any of the little girls who I was with in February came up. Then I would look up the boys, then I would go older...younger, etc.

Interesting that once I hit that send button.....the VERY FIRST child's photolisting that came up was a sweet little girl that I met in Fujian Province. Keep in mind that there are 1000s of kids on that particular site. But, HER...photo...came....up. Second *sign.*

As I read further, her nickname was "Allie." Third *sign.*
As I read further, the agency that had her file was the one that I used for Emily's adoption, a fairly small agency.....Fourth *sign.*
As I read her file and had it reviewed by doctors....there were lots of *signs* that I met her for a reason.

On March 17th, Alyssa's 6th birthday, I wrote my "Letter of Intent." This is a letter that you write to get Pre Approval to adopt a specific child from China.

On April 4th, I received Pre-Approval. Approval from China that....YES....you can adopt THIS child. MY Madi.

It has been a whirlwind ever since.

I have completed my dossier and it was sent to China on July 29th. There is A LOT of paperwork that needs to be completed before that step takes place and I am THRILLED that it is over. I hope to travel in 4-6 months to bring her home for good!!!

So, as I said at the beginning, I am not a very "religious" person, but I truly feel that all of those *signs* were from God. I truly do. There were many reasons why I probably should have said, "nope, not our time." But how do you do that to YOUR child. It is HER time, HER turn to have a family. OUR turn to be blessed with another angel from China. I thank God everyday that He sent me so many *signs.*

So many people have asked me about our journey to Madi and here it is. I can't wait to bring my sweet girl home and for all of our family and friends to welcome her home to our family. Thanks for all our your love, support and prayers as we wait to bring her home!!!