Love Our Way

Today I read Love Our Way, a recent Australian book outlining the story of a large adoptive family who learned that their youngest two children from India were not willingly relinquished for adoption, rather stolen from their mother and sold.

Ugh. I can't even begin to fathom the birth mother's anguish and pain... nor the emotions of anyone else involved in the saga. As I read the story I couldn't help but be relieved that these children were adopted into this particular family, where the parents were bold enough to confront the issue and wise enough to take the steps they did. In a strange series of events it seems that the birth mother's life has been saved through the reunion and she has a hope and a future.

We need stories like this to be told. There is/has been corruption in international adoption in a number of countries, and unless people are aware then there can be little done towards ensuring ethical practices are employed globally. I am pro-adoption, but as I have said before on this blog, I believe international adoption should be a last resort, and then only for children whose only other option is to be raised in an institution without a permanent loving family. I've read too many stories from adult adoptees to believe that transnational adoption is always the fairytale ending it's often made out to be.

Julia Rollings, the author of Love Our Way, has a blog - Towards a New Ending. It was nice to finish the book and then read the following installments and see current pictures in her blog. I was excited to learn also that the television show Foreign Correspondent will be sharing some of this story when it recommences screening in February.

If you're interested in buying the book, I picked mine up at an airport Newslink store. You can also use the link above.

Christmas wishes

Happy Christmas! We are off to tropical far north Queensland for a week where we will celebrate Christmas with my parents. Wishing all our friends, family and blog readers a very special Christmas and holiday season!

Child bride

Happy Anniversary to us! Twelve years ago today I walked up the aisle into the arms of the man I love (okay, he was just a boy back then).

On being an ancient mamma

Wow, and I sometimes worry about being a 'late-starter' and not beginning my family until my thirties. A 70 year old Indian woman has just given birth to a baby! Rajo and her husband had been married 50 years and felt there was a social stigma that they never had children. Eeek!


"We longed for a child all these years and now we are very happy to have one in the twilight years of our life."

Full article here.

3 months logged in

It's the eighth of the month, which means we are celebrating three months logged in!



All images licensed under Creative Commons. 1. Spot the difference!, 2. Pewter Number 3, 3. Dancing Kids

'All I Really Want for Christmas' music video

I watched this and was so glad to be reminded that I have the best gift of all, a family. This video suggests there are 50 million orphans who don't.


'All I Really Want for Christmas', Steven Curtis Chapman

Batch buddies

We (finally) got sent the names and contact details for the other seven couples in our batch today. Hrm now what. I guess someone has to initiate first contact, but it may be a little pointless this early on. Although I guess we don't have to meet up - I could just send a 'hello' email. Hrmmm...

We're not just the same batch; we're also the only files that went to China from Qld this year! It's intriguing to think we will be traveling together and that our children will have a lifelong connection. Maybe our children will all be from the same orphanage. Will we get a 'red couch' photo like the thousands before us?

I also wonder how much can happen between now and referral. How many of the eight couples will drop out / change plans / give up waiting?! (Not us!)

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!

Ladybugs

Ladybugs. Some China-adopters love 'em, some think the whole tradition of good luck and/or good news on the way with a sighting is pointless as it purportedly originated with prospective adopters rather than in China.

I'm not obsessed with ladybugs, but when I see one (or ladybug paraphernalia) I smile gently and think of the future. I have purchased ladybug stickers and some cute ladybug hair clips in the past. Today I may have gone a bit far.

I walked across the road to the butcher and the fruit shop to get supplies for dinner. In between the butcher and the fruit shop is a chemist. Hanging in the doorway of the chemist was this little number which caught my eye.

I walked past and then took two steps back. Oh my. I took it straight to the counter. There were two sales assistants who began gushing at the cuteness of it, and then asked me if it was for Christmas. 'Ummm not sure when it's for really!', I replied. Then one of them asked, 'How old is she?'. 'Ummm, just a baby', I said. I felt a bit silly and couldn't tell them it was actually for a child who not only probably hasn't been conceived, but her birth mother may not have even been conceived yet (I jest, I jest).

When life gives you bad milk, make... bricks?

Remember the tainted milk issue in China? I just saw this article at China Daily which suggests the contaminated milk could be used to make bricks and concrete. This is apparently a cheaper way to dispose of it than treating it as hazardous waste.

It's scary to think that it's too toxic for landfill yet humans were consuming it. Here's hoping China implements strict quality assurance measures/standards for all food and drinks (and toys and cosmetics and clothes...)

Image by mtlin