waiting for the phone call or recently adopted a baby

I used to live in VA Beach we now live in Charleston, SC where I got the baby itch. I am in the thick of a job hunt so we can adopt from Taiwan. I would love to adopt from Korea maybe I will some day. We want to adopt all 3 of our children but first a job so we can get baby #1. You must be soo happy. How old is your son?

Hi Yes we are very excited our son is six months old today!! We have waited so long for this I misscarried in 1994 and had to have a hysterctomy @26 years old we were blessed with a wonderful son who will be 13 in June and he has wanting to be a big brother for ever!! So are you going to start your adoption process soon?? Liz

This mom has got the baby itch bad. I quit my old job because there was no way I could be a mother. So I am looking for a 8 to 5. I have a few leads. We want to pay off our debt which is not much. We are doing that now. We just bought the house. That kicked the baby itch in over drive. We think we can have bchildren we only tried 6 months and dh was always gone. He's navy. When Dh left right after 9/11 we promised to write love letters to each other and not talk about the war only good things. We talked a lot about his little empress. That's when I knew it was time but China has a rule you must be 30. Well, I have an old soul but I am not any where close to 30. Then we found Taiwan. They had no problem with our age and said it would help. So we have the country it's only the money part we are working on. I have always known I would adopt. Every guy that I have ever dated I asked about adoption. Dh passed the test with flying colors.

Liz, Congratulations! It's been ten years and three months since we received our phone call telling us to pick up our son at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. He's now a very precocious pre-teen! We've enjoyed every single moment of the last ten years. Enjoy!

Did you adopt from Korea also?? How is your son doing does he ask why his mom and dad didnt keep him? We have a bio-son who will be 13 in June. Did you get your son as a infant? Do you live in Maryland also? Sorry for so many questions!! God Bless Liz

Liz, Yes, Zack is Korean. He went through the "Why did my birthmom give me up" thing when he was about 4 years old. He is perfect! Let's see. That means he has a messy room, talks back like he's a teenager, has crushes on blue-eyed blondes, gets in trouble at school for being "too social, " makes straight A's, wins math and social studies contests/fairs, and loves karate, basketball, Boy Scouts, and church youth fellowship. In other words, he's like most American kids. We live in an almost all-white community in a school with three other Asians. Luckily, our church has several kids of Korean, Philippine, and Indian descent, all adopted. We live in WV, unfortunately, on the other side as far from Maryland as you can get. What part of Maryland do you live in? My Mom lives in Grafton which is close to Morgantown, WV. We are in the process of waiting right now for our referral of a daughter from China. The wait is excruciating. . .much longer than with Korea. We wanted to do Korea again but are too old. . .46! If you have other questions, feel free to ask.

thanks i am glad he is well its nice to hear how the older kids are doing we always hear about the babys and toddlers(which is nice to) Yes we looked into China 1st but decided to go to Korea but we are only 33 and 34 thanks for telling me your age we want to adopt again in 3-4 years and some people say you will be to old!! I hope you get your refferal soon China is a longer wait though??(Isnt it) Do they come home as baby's or toddlers? God Bless Liz

Right now the problem with China is that we have a war going on and SARS! I don't know when we will get our daughter because of these two obstacles. She will be between 7 months to three years of age. That's what we requested. I think the youngest babies out of China are about 6 months. Since we are older, we are hoping for a toddler.

I would be delighted to talk with you. I am an older single Mom. When I was "only" 51, I brought home my daughter from China; she was 18.5 mo. old at the time. Becca is now 7 and in second grade, and we are having a wonderful time. Did you use ASIA? I know it is one of two agencies with Korea contracts for Maryland. I used ASIA for my China adoption. Sharon

Sharon, I need some encouragement that eventually I will get my daughter from China. We used ASIA for our Korean adoption 10 years ago but decided to go with CCAI in Colorado for our Chinese adoption. I'm glad Becca is doing well. Our son is 10 and the typical pre-teen. Does she attend school with other Chinese children? Are you in an area with kids from other cultures? We are now in our downhill side of 40's; I'm getting very stressed because the wait has been so long and now with the Iraqi situation and the SARS problems I just feel hopeless. We are in WV. . .on the Ohio side. I do have family that is close to Maryland though.

Thanks for your note. Yes, you WILL be a Mom. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. My dossier went to China back in April, 1996, when referrals were "supposed to" take only eight to 12 WEEKS! One month later, China announced a major reorganization of its adoption system, combining in a single Ministry the adoption activities previously handled in two. My dossier was in the "wrong" Ministry, the one that would no longer be allowed to assign children. As a result, I did not get a referral until January 30, 1997. Then, the referral had to be withdrawn because the child was adopted domestically during the reorganization, and the province did not notify Beijing until it learned that she had been assigned to me; it was truly awful to have this adoption miscarriage. I got another referral immediately, although I was not ready to look at it for a few days, and my group finally got travel approval in April, 1997. I met my daughter in Xiamen in May, 1997 -- 13 months after my dossier went to China. It seemed like an eternity -- but all is forgiven now; I'm too happy to think about it! Don't let the war throw you off course. Do remember that even when the U.S. mistakenly bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing innocent Chinese civilians, the China Center for Adoption Affairs continued to make referrals of children to Americans. And when a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft collided with a Chinese plane over Hainan Island, adoptions continued. So my feeling is that even though the Chinese and U.S. governments do not agree about how to proceed in Iraq, China and the U.S. will continue to work together on finding homes for children in need. As far as the new epidemic, it is, of course, worrisome. I probably would put off "tourist" travel to China. Still, if I knew that there was a child waiting for me in China, I'd be on that plane right now. Yes, there is some risk; however, there are always risks. (Say a prayer before you cross some Chinese streets! The risk of death in a traffic accident is probably greater!) I was living in Washington, DC when I adopted. Washington is full of internationally adopted children, including many, many from China. It is also home to many families who have immigrated from other countries and to many transracial families by marriage. So we saw many kids with Asian faces, and many families with both White and Asian members. Several members of my China travel group also lived in the area, and became close friends during our wait and afterwards. There is a very strong chapter of Families With Children From China. Now, we live in Gaithersburg, Maryland, a Washington suburb. I purposely bought a house in a very Asian neighborhood. (It also happens to be two blocks away from one of the families from the travel group!) Our back fence neighbors and our across-the-street neighbors are Taiwanese, for example. I must say that my Asian neighbors knew very little about China adoption before meeting me, and that there is less socialization among the races than I would have hoped. Still, I'm glad to be here -- and love the Asian eateries in the area. Although the local public school is excellent, however, my daughter does not go there. She attends the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, where she is learning Hebrew by immersion, as well as English. Interestingly, in a class of only 18 children (one of 7 second grades!), there are four non-White children, including my daughter. There is one other Chinese girl who also has an older single Mom; the Mom happened to be living in Israel when she adopted, and the girl speaks fluent Hebrew. There is one girl born to Eritrean Jewish parents (Eritrea is a country near Ethiopia; the people are Black). In addition, there is a biracial child with a Black Mom and a White Dad. The American Jewish community is growing more diverse daily! Becca is a very social child, and our weekends are full of activities with neighborhood kids, schoolmates, and children from our various China adoption playgroups. I didn't think we had a minute to spare for anything else, until we acquired our very social Airedale puppy! Now we spend time at the dog park and the trainer, as well!

Congrats to all who have adopted over seas. I recently met a woman who just returned from China (her second adoption from China). She was going through the same agency I am using for my domestic adoption. She came in to shop and show me her latest addition. I tell you those two girls are so beautiful. We are adopting domestically in Maryland. Unfortunately it takes so long and international adoption is too expensive for us. We have been waiting for 8 months now and they said on average it takes 18-24 months which really isnt that bad. So for now we just have to wait for that phone call. Liz, I hope you get that phone call real soon.