Why China? This is a common question so it feels like blog material.
First a bit of irony. When we decided that we wanted to have a family, Brian suggested that we adopt. It was something he felt compelled to do - to provide a loving stable home to a child who otherwise would not have it. My exact quote: I hate paperwork. That was over 10 years ago and the path has not been easy but there is no doubt that it has been our path, the right one for us.
Ok, back to China.
When we made the decision to adopt, we did a lot of research - domestic, open, closed, international, special needs, etc. We attended information sessions and considered many different options. We settled on a plan to adopt a minority baby, domestically. For some reason, Brian continued to do research and one night showed me some information on China. As we read about the process and the stories of the orphanages crowded with baby girls, we both knew this was for us. We didn't really discuss the reasons - we literally just knew and that was that. Since then, I've compiled a list of reasons that make it easy to answer the question and they make perfect sense:
-we wanted a girl
-the process was predictable
-the wait was only 10 months (ha!)
-we both have a deep respect for Asian philosophy/religions
But, the truth is that we both felt this in our gut. Our baby would be born in China.
We've had many opportunities to revisit this decision. Specifically, every time a delay was announced, when our paperwork had to be updated, and annually around my birthday. We even had some serious conversations about a year ago with a domestic agency. Every single time, we concluded that this was our path. Our guts told us to stay the course.
This year, our baby was born in China and we are on our way!
Banner pictures
Every time someone use to say this to us. I would just say... 'We didn't pick China, China picked us'... it is as simple as that... she was there.. though not born when we started... I guess fate drew us there... for as long as I can recall I have always had a deep interest in anything Asian... and sometimes my mum said I should have been born Chinese :) I did Asian studies in school etc but by no means did I pick China cause of this... my husband had no big interest in Asian countries... like I say, I think that fate led us here... so glad it did... I look at Shauna and that whole 4+ years was well worth the wait.
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