The Willow Trees

A few months ago I purchased a series of six China adoption related DVDs from Dr. Changfu Chang. One of them, The Willow Trees, documents a remarkable story that is worth sharing.

Bonnie was a single career woman. Bonnie's sister was married and unable to have children, so she decided to adopt. Sadly, she became ill and passed away before this could happen. A little while later Bonnie decided herself to adopt and in doing so fulfilled her sister's dream. She put in her application to China. Her first adoption took place in 1998.

Bonnie missed her sister greatly and thought that her daughter should also have the experience of having a sister, so three years later she decided to pursue a second adoption. This time Bonnie decided to use a new adoption agency upon recommendation by a friend. Interestingly the second agency was located in the building where her sister had first worked and in the area that Bonnie had grown up in. She signed the papers on the same date as her late sister's birthday.

When Bonnie's travel group received their allocations, Bonnie's was not included. She was understandably devastated, however a month later she finally received her referral. It was a complete surprise for Bonnie to learn that her second daughter was from the same city and in fact the same orphanage as her first.

A year later, Bonnie attended a reunion for families who adopted from the orphanage her daughters were from. Someone delivered a message for her which stated that her daughters had a closer link than most and were biologically related.

Of course, you know where this is headed right?! The two daughters looked similar and the older they got the more the similarities became apparent. DNA testing proved the girls were biological sisters. There was no human intervention, and it is not possible that the CCAA would have known they were sisters in order to refer them to the same mother. Bonnie believes this remarkable coincidence was the work of her sister!