Chapter 1

Today I sit typing on the computer while my Katie sits in front of the tv
watching and singing about a circus. A video that she has seen at least 500 times, well not that many it just seems like it to me. Let me tell you how my miracle happened.

I have always said that if I was able I would adopt a child. There are
four children in my family and we always had noise in my house. Well on my 35th birthday, October 1994, I decided that I wanted my family. Not being married and having no desire to actually give birth, adoption seemed the right thing to do. I knew I didn't have the money to adopt privately or internationally so I decided to adopt through our state Social Services. This started my very long road, with bumps, to my adoption of Katie.

Social services required that you take a 10 week class about adoption. At the same time I started the classes I also went back to school to get my Masters degree in Education. Upon completion of the course the state agency required the homestudy was started. This was finally complete in the summer of '95. Then the wait started. I was teaching middle school at the time and had requested a girl 3-5 years old. Well the stated offered me many children, all between 11-14 with severe emotional difficulties. I said no thank you. At this point I decided that there had to be another option to adoption.

In March of '96, I visited a college friend in Atlanta. I didn't know it
at the time, but she had adopted a beautiful little girl from China the previous Christmas. I decided that international adoption just might be how my family would be formed. Now I had to decide how I could pay for such an undertaking and what agency I would use. My mother and I owned a place in North Carolina. So we decided to sell it to pay for the adoption. Now onto picking an agency. Several of the people I talked to suggested agencies that were not located in Florida, where I live. After a lot of prayer I decided on Holt International Childrens Services. The time difference worked in my favor. I could come home from work as late as I wanted and still get to talk to someone from my agency.

Next was to start all the paperwork and get my homestudy started for
Holt. (My state one was to old.) So the summer of '96 was spent getting all the paperwork together and continuing with my Masters classes. I must say I was not happy with the social worker who came to do the homestudy. She was a very nice person, but very slow to get things done. She had to send for the state child abuse clearance. After continually calling her she finally submitted all the paperwork to the state. All my paperwork except for the homestudy and I-171 were complete by my birthday in October 96. Now to get the social worker going. Finally in the early part of December she finished the report. Now for the last of the paperwork and onto the wait. My paperwork went to China on Jan. 4, 1997, my niece's birthday. She was the only girl grandchild at the time and was happy that things were finally on their way.

Then came the awful news that China was reorganizing the adoption
process. My four month wait I had expected turned into 10 months. I was given the opportunity to change schools in Feb. and I took it. I also
expected to finish my masters classes in August of '97. So the waiting time was going to be filled with things to do. I had hoped to spend the summer of '97 as a new mom, but it would have to wait. After many anxious days, weeks, months of waiting, my principal stopped in to see if I had heard anything about the adoption. With a hanging head, I said no. When I got home from school. There was a message on my machine to call Holt. I knew I put Holt in my speed dial for a reason, because I couldn't have dialed the number if I had to.

Chapter 2

I officially got "THE CALL" on Monday, October 20, 1997. Suzie started with "I have some news you have been waiting to hear." From there she proceed to tell me her name was Chen Yong Jie. That she weighed 12 lbs. and was 23 inches tall, but the medical report would be sent to me in the next few days. She then said her birthday was October 27, 1996. She was just a week shy of her first birthday. I asked Suzie if this was some kind of joke. She was confused. I asked her again for the birthday and she said the same thing and asked what was the matter. I asked her to look at my file and read my birthday. Mine is October 27 also. We laughed and said it must be China's way of saying this little girl was meant for me. Suzie then informed me that I would get the details and picture in the next few days.

I began to call everyone I knew. I even called people who just knew I was adopting but I didn't see very often. Needless to say I was on cloud 9. I was delighted to finally have the name of my little girl. I was also saddened because she was going to be all alone on her first birthday. I had a hard time concentrating on teaching while waiting for the picture and medical report. The medical report arrived on Wednesday afternoon. I ripped open the package to see the cutest little face in the entire world. She had chipmunk cheeks and the most beautiful lips. Her medical report said she was healthy, although the report was from January 25, 1997. She was only 3 months old at the original report. Holt was unsure when the picture was taken, but believed it was around the same time as the medical report.

I showed the picture to everyone in the entire school. Across the street
from the school is a photo shop that did enlargements, so I had 12 more photos made to give out to family and friends. I also stopped at the local Wal-Mart to get a button. I made a button with Katie's picture and name on it. I wore it everywhere all the time. One day I was in a rush and didn't pick it up on the way to school. I got nailed by so many students wanting to know "Where is your button? Why aren't you wearing it?" That was the only time I forgot it.

Now for the hardest part of the adoption, the wait for the travel permission. I thought I would be leaving the first week of December based on travel plans of my internet friends. So to pass the time I painted Katie's room. Katie's godmother, Lori, and I drew Winnie the Pooh and friends on the wall, outlined and painted it. Her room was almost ready; I bought a crib over the summer. Now all I needed was Katie.

I finally got the word about travelling. I had to be in Hong Kong on
Saturday, December 27, 1997. We would be one of the last groups to go before the laws changed in January.

Chapter 3

As we, (my mother was traveling with me), learned when we had to be in Hong Kong we started to make calls about our flight. We decided it was easier to drive to Atlanta, my brother lives there, and have him take us to the airport. As it turned out, we left on Christmas Eve to drive to Atlanta with a 5:30 a.m. flight to San Francisco, then onto Hong Kong. My mother is not happy to fly and the idea of being in the plane that long did not thrill her at all. We were supposed to have a direct flight to San Francisco, but at the last minute were sent to Chicago. As we took off from Atlanta on Christmas morning it was very cloudy, but as we came above the clouds you could still see the lights on some of the really tall buildings. It was breathtaking. At that point all my fears about traveling vanished. I knew we would arrive safely in Hong Kong.

We were in Chicago for a very short time, then on to San Francisco. We had a couple of hours in the SF airport so we wandered. We found quickly that we were becoming the minority. We found a place to change money and not knowing how much we would need we exchanged American for Hong Kong dollars. What a deal... 1 US dollar for every 7 Hong Kong dollars. (Little did we know that everything was multiplied by 7 in Hong Kong.)

It was finally time for the Hong Kong flight. We boarded, found our seats and began to be squished. On our coach flight, my mother and I , (both of us large people) were between a Sumo wrestler, well maybe he wasn't but he sure was big, and a very petite Asian girl from Canada. She didn't even take up half the seat. She was very nice. We talked about her family still in Hong Kong, with relatives throughout China. I took a couple of PM aspirins and I was out for most of the flight, awaking periodically to see what movie was on or where we were on the global map on the screen.

We arrived in Hong Kong on a runway that had water on three sides. This made me very nervous. The plane had just gone around several buildings to make its approach. It was dark outside an I was a little apprehensive about all this, but the pilot knew what he was doing and we touched down. We were on our way to find the luggage. What a fun adventure that was.

We finally got our luggage and proceeded to the taxi area. This was very well organized. We weren't sure we had enough money so we went back and exchanged for more. We stood in line until it was our turn. The taxi was like being in a 1980 Honda, you know the very first ones that looked like someone had glued a cereal box together. I wasn't sure if the luggage would fit and if it did where was I going to sit.

The driver made everything fit and we were on our way to the BP International Hotel. After our exciting taxi ride in this wonderful city, we arrived at our hotel. This was our first experience where we were the minority. We did not speak the language and he did not speak English. He kept telling us how much it was but I didn't have a clue. So I held out the money, he selected a few and then tried to give us change. I refused to accept the change and he seemed pleased at a generous tip. Knowing what he took and how much we started out with the ride ended up being about $3. The tip was also about $3. Not a bad deal.

As we walked into this beautiful hotel it was nearing 8 p.m. on Dec 26th. We had be on the go non stop since 4 am Dec 25. We were tired and very excited. I knew it was just a short time until I would meet my new extended family and then my forever family.

After going into our room on the 14th floor, we were able to look out the window onto the beautiful city of Hong Kong. Living in the United States with so many open paces you do not realize how much land is taken for granted. Everything in Hong Kong goes up, there is no room to build.

After a restless night we went down to breakfast buffet. We saw many families with children and we saw even more that look like anxious to be parents. My mother and I were trying to pick out people we thought would be in our group. At 9:00 a.m., December 27th, we were to meet with Holt. Everyone was getting onto the elevators and looking for the floor number, but it wasn't there. You had to take a different elevator to get there. You could see the panic in more than one face. Finally arriving on the right floor and looking for the right room. We began to introduce ourselves. In our group meeting there were two different groups, first timers and old pros. The Hunan 8 group was for first timers, all of us first time parents. The other group was families adopting a second child. One of the old pro group had brought her adopted daughter with her. She was about 4 and the most beautiful little girl. I think she helped put to ease the fears us first timers had.

As the meeting started, we were told what was going to happen, what was expected of us and what not to do. It was very informative. We were also warned about Mongolian spots on the skin of the girls. Mongolian spots are blue pigments in the skin color. This is native to Asian children and goes away as they grow. We had our pictures taken for the visas into China. As this was taking place everyone was whipping out there referral picture or any picture they had of their little one. The room was filled with excitement until he said the Hunan 8 group was not leaving until Monday the 29th. We were free to explore the city of Hong Kong. We were to meet in the lobby of the hotel at 3 p.m. to take the bus back to the airport. Two days before we were leaving, what were we to do? Go shopping of course.

We had a great time wondering around the city. We went to the science museum and wouldn't you know it was filled with space stuff from right here in Florida. I could have seen all this about an hour from home instead I went half way around the world. My mother and I shopped so much that we had to mail stuff home. (It took 4 weeks to get home.)

One of the things that was so interesting was the traffic lights, or should I say the pedestrian crossings. The timer clicked out loud with the clicks getting closer together as the time to cross was ending. The most amazing was you actually had time to cross the street, something that is does not happen here unless you are racing against the traffic.

We toured, explored, and shopped. We also saw some of the other families in our group. By Monday I think everyone was back at the hotel by noon, packing and getting ready for the next leg of our journey. We started to trickle down to the lobby with all of our luggage. We met our guide to the airport. It took one bus for the people and one bus for the luggage.

Chapter 4

We left the Hong Kong airport bound for Changsha and our beautiful
daughters. The flight was uneventful. We arrived at the airport late into the evening. We also had our first exposure to real Chinese bathrooms. We loaded onto the bus with our Holt guide Collin and our Changsha guide Mr. Ping. As we road in the dark Mr. Ping pointed land marks and told us about the city of Changsha. I wish I remembered anything he said, but being tired and nervous my mind was not really listening. 

We arrived at the Hue Tian Hotel. It was beautifully decorated, with a
wonderful Christmas display. We were given our room assignments and told to be back in the lobby by 8:00 a.m. As it turned out all the families were on the same floor, most in the same wing. After a little unpacking most of us ended up in the hallway, so much like a dorm at college.

Collin, our Holt guide, came into the hallway with us. We started to
talk. He started talking to us about the orphanages and what the girls names meant. Chen Yong Jie means "pure", "forever". Amazing how these girls fit into our lives before they arrived. The name I had picked for my daughter, Kathryn, also means pure. It was very joyous to share information about our daughters before we knew them.

In our group most families hooked up with one or two other families to
hang out with. My mother and I had hit it off with Mary and her mom Helen from Cincinnati, another single mom. Mary's daughters Chinese name meant "socially knowledgeable", the first thing Mary said was "party girl", and poor Maggie had a reputation before she had her American name.

Most families saw each other again at breakfast. Some unusual things were offered at the buffet, congee which we later learned the girls loved, and "1000 year old eggs". I was not brave enough to try anything I could not identify. All families showing signs of impending joy.

Around 10 minutes to 8 the families were starting to gather in the lobby.
I held an old fashioned Winnie the Pooh to help comfort Katie. Most of the families had toys, diaper bags and a camera.

We loaded onto the bus, and I don't remember a lot of talking going on. It was cold and had been raining. We arrived at the government office and got off the bus. As we walked into the building we were put into two rooms. Both of the rooms were small and cold. Everybody picked a spot and started to get their cameras ready. I was very fortunate that my mother had come along with her video camera. She was trying to help Helen with her video camera.

Collin asked us to start filling out paperwork. We were quietly working
when suddenly we heard babies crying. Well we all lost it then. Crying all over the place. The orphanage workers started to carry in the babies and Collin made them take them out so we could finish the paperwork. Little did I know at the time that my Katie was the first one in the door. Later video showed her being carried at the front of the line. As we tried to finish the paperwork, those not doing paperwork were videoing. Then Collin called for them to come back in.

The girls were from the Chenzhou orphanage. The girls from Changde had not arrived yet. Collin started next to the door and asked for the child's name and then called it out to the orphanage workers. As he did this the babies were passed out to their new parents. Then came my turn. I said "Chen Yong Jie" and I was handed the most beautiful girl in the world, of course that is this mothers opinion.

Katie did not cry, but looked around very puzzled. I held on tight. I started to feed her fruit loops. She liked them and followed my hand when I tried to put them away. She had short black hair, big beautiful dark brown eyes, a few teeth and a rattle in her breathing. We were told the orphanage wanted the clothes back or something to replace them with. I started to undress Katie. She had on 4 layers of clothes. One was a onepiece sweat suit that was on backwards. She also had on a pair of knit split pants and a pull up. After getting her undressed she then started to cry. I had brought size 2 & 3 diapers and they were way to big for her. She was so tiny.

I was the first called from our room to go have the "official paperwork" done. I swore I was who I said I was and that I would always take care of this little girl. She had her footprint done and we were free to go.

I went back to the room to put on the clothes I had brought to take Katie
out into the cold with. In Florida you really can't buy snow suits, so I had the warmest thing I could buy. I had Katie so wrapped up that she started to sweat. I also had a front carry pack. Once she was in the pack she went right to sleep and slept through the rest of the paperwork.

We went to the next government office where we had to walk up a couple of flights of stairs. We were asked why we wanted to adopt a Chinese child. I could only say that the love the Chinese people feel for their children could only complement the love I already feel for this child. My heart was already so full of love for this tiny person.

Back to the hotel for the afternoon. I put Katie down for a nap and then
the anxiety set in. I asked myself and my mother "What have I done? What if I'm not a good parent?" After the attack wore off, I felt like how could I not be meant for this little girl.

Chapter 5
Our First Days Together

After Katie's first nap it was time to get aquatinted. I put Katie on the
floor on a towel to see where she was in her development. She sat on the floor with her legs straight out like she was on the balance beam doing a split. She still had not been very verbal and I was beginning to wonder just how old she was. Her paperwork said 14 months, but she could not stand by herself, walk, or talk. She did seem to relax a little bit more as she became more used to my face.

Katie was sick and I was having a flair up of bronchitis so as many of the families decided to tour the city we stayed in the hotel room. My mother did get to go on one of the tours.

After a couple of days some of the single moms decided to venture out to the Friendship store. Each family had to have it's own taxi, they were so small. I did not bring a stroller so Katie again went into the front pack. I felt much more secure having her there. We walked around a very crowded store, crowded with shoppers and with sales clerks. Every time I looked at something someone was there to take it to put aside. I found some wonderful things for Katie. No one bothered me, but the other moms had several people come up to them making them uncomfortable so we left to go back to the hotel.

Everything was finally complete and we could go Guangzhou. The travel to Guangzhou included another plane ride. Katie did great on the plane, seems whenever we traveled she would fall asleep. The plane ride was short and now in Guangzhou we were to have our Consulate visit to receive our visa to travel back to the United States. As we got off the plane and found our luggage we also had to say goodbye to our guide Collin. He had been such a comfort to us and seemed genuinely happy that we were adopting these little girls.

Our guides in Guangzhou were Miriam and Eva, who was 9 months pregnant. We walked what seemed like forever to get to the two busses that would take us to our next destination, the White Swan Hotel.

Judy...