1)  Vancouver's second most spoken language is Chinese.
2)   Hong Mei which is Meilina’s Chinese name means “red flower”
3)   In school, Chinese children used to have to learn all of the 100 Chinese last names.
4)   It took the babies 3-4 hours by bus to arrive at the government office in Nanchang from the orphanage in Nanfeng.
5)  Not all Walmarts are the same
6)  Drivers honk their horns to let other drivers know that they are passing.
7)  The TengWang Pavillion is on its 29th renovation. It is 1400 years old.
8)  The Panda is one of the 5 Chinese mascots for the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing.
9)  When a mother panda gives birth to 2 cubs, she sometimes nurtures one. Zookeepers have been successful in formula feeding the other cub.
10) On some parts of the Great Wall of China, it is illegal to climb there.
11) People say that it was by chance that silk was found but others think that there is a story to it.
12) In indoor markets, you have to bargain unless you want to pay a lot of money.
13) In every building in the Forbidden City, there is a throne for the Emperor to sit on.
14) It doesn't snow very much in Vancouver in the winter, even though the mountains have snow.

December 2005

Building Our Families the Waiting Children Way

To start off, Susan and I met "on line" just over 2 years ago while we were waiting to adopt our first children. We had a lot in common as we were both single and we were both adopting through the Waiting Children Program. Fast for-ward a year later, both of our girls were home. They were both bright, beautiful, healthy little girls. We met several times, our girls became friends and we dreamed of adopting again.

This time we wanted to travel together. We were planning to adopt via the Waiting Children Program again. We partici-pated in some wonderful Waiting Children specific groups, and through networking with them, and meeting other WC families, we got even more comfortable with this avenue. We both came to feel that the Waiting Children are “hand picked". Since the orphanages select only the most adopt-able ones, the ones who would do well in a family, and to be honest, the ones who would not be turned down. The needs are physical in nature – not developmental. China's defin-ition of a special needs child is very different than our North American perception which is of a child with developmental problems such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. China's Waiting Children would never meet the definition of "special needs" in Canada.

Many of the children in the program have already had their problem corrected by the time they are adopted. There are several initiatives such as the Tomorrow Fund (Caleb's surgery), the Love Without Boundaries Missions, Orphan-age Donations (Julia's surgery) that are providing funds for medical care. Before  they  come  to  their  new families it is common for the cleft babies, for example, to have had their lip, and in some cases, palates repaired, and for the heart babies to have had life saving surgery.

We both started our Homestudy updates in the Spring of 2005. Susan was trying to wait for me as I could not be DTC until August 2005. Well in July, the new list came out. Susan was sure that her new daughter was on it...and she was. I was hoping to be matched for my child through CCAA, but in the end, I found my son on the list as well.

We were hoping to travel in early December. We sent our Letter of Intent, which outlines the medical care plan for our specific child along with our dossier. Now all we had to do was wait.

The general population has a vague idea of China's "One Child Policy“ so I would often hear..." aren't boys rare", or "They don't give up their boys.". Well, that is not entirely true. In the non-special needs program, mostly girls are available, but in the Waiting Child program, about half the children are boys. Waiting Children lists tend to reflect this.

The thing is that the Adoptive Community has long had a bias for girls. 80% of the children that are adopted through the Waiting Children Program are girls; the first to go: the youngest baby girls, then toddler girls, then baby boys, older girls. The last ones to find homes are the older boys.

Now for Susan and I, it is like the Chinese Proverb "the Red Thread can tangle but it never breaks". Through a series of events, we would in fact be traveling together, and our children, Julia (vsd, pulmonary hypertension -- repaired) and Caleb (repaired cleft lip, and small alveolar cleft) were both in Kunming, Yunnan Province.

We left for Beijing Dec, 8th, 2005. By late afternoon on Dec 11th, we met our children for the very first time. What a feeling. There was just Susan and I receiving Julia and Caleb. I saw this beautiful, rosy cheek little boy (who had turned one just six days before). He was perfect!!  Susan felt the same way about her pretty, little, almost 19 month old Julia. We had the time of our lives on this trip. We were in awe of our children, at how well the little ones adjusted to our families and how well the new "big" sisters took on their role.

Susan and I are advocates for the wonderful kids in China's Waiting Children program. To Susan and I, our "Special Needs" children are just, well, "Special".

Nancy & Susan