January 1999

Spring Newsletter 1999

Sylvie Lalonde and Bruce McKinnon traveled to China in January to adopt their daughter, Maxine. Sylvie provided this trip report.

After months and for some years of preparation, the January 1999 trip to China was the final realization of a dream! Sixteen families traveled together and brought home beautiful and healthy baby girls. The lengthy process of adoption was finally over and our gratitude goes to Yulin who made it possible for us to form families with wonderful younggirls from Hefei, Nanchang and Hangzou.

We left from different parts of Canada under adverse conditions. The likelihood of all of us making it to Vancouver seemed quite uncertain given that a major snow storm had halted most air travel in southern Ontario. The Toronto airport was even closed! Determination and an intense desire to meet our daughters allowed us all to meet in Vancouver on January 16th and to depart on a flight to Beijing.

The flight was uneventful, except for the excitement felt as we approached our goal of uniting with our daughters. We exchanged glimpses of the photos presented to us with the proposals. We were already proud parents anticipating the great moment. Once in Beijing, Yulin had made the arrangements for six of us to go to Hefei, while nine families left for Nanchang and one couple traveled to Hangzou.

Once in our respective cities, we were introduced to our wonderful daughters within a few hours of our arrival! Many of the babies were cheerful, even within the first few hours. The process went quite smoothly, given all that could have happened. Yulin's experience was certainly apparent. Her assistance will be forever remembered and appreciated. We spent the following few days getting acquainted with our daughters. We were fascinated with the Chinese people who were very interested whenever they saw us with the baby girls. We collected as much information as we could about the area where our little girls were born.

A week later, we all met again in Beijing. Once again there was a lot of excitement as we got to meet all of the babies. They seemed to be adapting very well to their new families. We would gather for breakfast at our convenience, sharing experiences and exchanging tips, dealing with our concerns as new parents. Travelling in the group gave us the opportunity to rely on one another and offered a sense of security.

A number of activities were planned in Beijing. The flexibility in the organization allowed each family to choose its own schedule. This provided a balance between establishing some sort of routine with our babies and taking advantage of our stay in China to explore some of the famous sites and do a little shopping. Again the organization was flawless. We had our own bus tours and guides as well as a variety of options offered to us. The shopping was excellent and prices were very reasonable in terms of our Canadian currency. Many of us took advantage of this and every shopping trip was a true adventure!

It is now easy to understand why three families within our group were returning home with their second adopted child from China. The baby girls are absolutely wonderful and the long process of adoption now seems somewhat insignificant given the joy and love that these little girls are bringing to our lives. Our gratitude goes out to Family Outreach for the professional yet very caring approach in helping families unite with their daughters. Yulin and her friends and family were all instrumental in making our dreams come to fulfillment. The follow-up information was very touching. Family Outreach prepared a package for each of our children to be opened on their twenty first birthday. Nothing has been left incomplete. Our paths may or may not cross again but the memory of this trip to China will forever be engraved in our minds as an absolutely outstanding experience changing our lives forever for the better!