"Why China?"We get asked this a lot. We adopted from China because that's where our daughter was. It turned out to be the coolest experience of our lives. Really. We loved adopting from China! There are so many reasons why, here are a few of them.
This is from our experience alone. We did our research before we adopted, we linked ourselves with dozens of adoptive families from China, and we continue to learn and observe, and live adoption from China.
We had an amazing agency! They made everything so much easier! The process of international adoption is daunting to say the very least, but CCAI made the process really really do-able. I loved working with them.
China is a Hague Convention country. That means that they are not corrupt. Your fees are locked in as soon as you are accepted as an adoptive parent. We knew from the first two weeks what we were going to have to pay. We knew what our trip was going to entail, and we knew that there would be no surprises as far as our trip or our fees were concerned.
Orphans in China don't really stand a chance at a decent adult life. They are true outcasts, abandoned babies and children. Their chances of marrying, getting a university education, or a career are slim to none.
Chinese mothers have huge hopes for their babies. They don't drink or smoke while they are pregnant, they get excellent prenatal care, and they hope very much for a baby that they can keep.
Even Chinese babies (like ours) that are in less than ideal orphanages bond really well with their knew families. There are almost no attachment issues with Chinese orphans. They bond really really well. They are not abused, and that is huge. They may be neglected because of the baby to nanny ratio, but to the best that they are able, their caretakers love those little kids.
Chinese people love that we are adopting their orphans. It was kind of weird when we were in China, and were frequently stopped and asked what we were doing with this baby. They express in their faces and their actions their gratitude for giving this baby a much better life.
The trip to China to get your baby is the coolest trip ever!!! It's hard, but nothing that is that amazing is easy.
Chinese kids are so super resilliant. They are strong, and smart, and trusting, and learn so quickly!
We love this girl so much! I sometimes want to eat her!!
I sort of think with dread at what Emily's existence would have been had we not gone for her. She has added so incredibly much joy and happiness to our family. She always was ours, we just needed to go get her. I get told at least once a week by various people, that they have felt drawn to China. It is a scary process to start that requires so much faith. But, the knowledge that we had a daughter on the other side of the world was one of the most incredible humbling experiences of my life as well. I don't know exactly how to write this, but if you have every felt that pull, it is real!! Listen to it. You will never regret it for a second. Do you have a child on the other side of the world?
