So what happened on Friday, June 1?

Please forgive me for being so long in bringing this update to you, but…We’ve Been Matched!! Friday June 1, Chris and I were relaxing on the couch, basically getting ready for bed when we received a phone call at 10:23. It was my mother saying she was not coming to the house like we had expected, but spending the night at my grandmother’s instead. So when the phone rang 4 minutes later at 10:27, I almost answered “Yes, Mother” but I noticed that the caller was an Illinois cell phone. The voice said “Hello Christine, this is Elizabeth from Bethany”. I was suddenly awake! She had seen two little girls pop up on the Shared list that evening that were close to the age range we had specified, but just outside it. One had a birthdate of 5/2007 and one 10/2006 and both had cleft lip and palate. Were we interested in either girl, she wanted to know? Jude’s birthdate is 8/3/2006 and we had wanted at least about a year between them, so the May 2007 seemed like a pretty good fit, but since it wasn’t a perfect fit, she wanted to call and confirm. We said yes, and she said she would get off the phone and try to see if she was still on the list (she could have been gone that fast!) and then lock her for us.

So we waited. 10:45, 11:00, 11:30. At 11:45 Chris said “I’m going to bed”. At midnight I couldn’t keep my eyes open and went upstairs to brush my teeth. I took my phone with me and as I was brushing my teeth, my email notifier went “pop!” It was the referral from Elizabeth. I ran downstairs and got the computer and Chris and I sat in the bed reviewing her file. We decided to look at her file before her pics so that we wouldn’t be swayed by her face. Her file does not say where she was found, but states that when she was admitted to the orphanage on May 28, 2008, she had 2 sutures in her upper lip. She was guesstimated to be about a year old and given the birthdate of May 15, 2007, my mother’s birthday.

She just turned 5 years old and is very tiny. In February 2012 she was reported as being 24 pounds and 34 inches tall, the size of a typical 2 year old. Many kids in orphanages are small, so we are not too concerned about her size but can’t wait to get her here to give her a healthy diet and help her do some catching up! She is also probably anemic, due to lack of a great diet. I’m sure having that open palate for so long made eating difficult. She may always be a little peanut, but we will do what we can to help her reach her fullest potential.

We read further and find that not only has her lip been fixed, but her palate as well, in July of 2011, at the age of 4. This is great news! Usually a palate repair is delayed until they are home with their adoptive family. She will most likely require further surgeries, but it is good to have the first stage out of the way. We also find that when she was brought in at 1 year of age, she was sitting and crawling. This would be very unusual for a baby who had been in the orphanage for her first year of life, so her family blessed her by giving her 1 year of love and developmental opportunities. Most likely they could not afford the surgeries to repair her lip and palate and sadly, had to give her up, in order that she might get the surgeries she needed. We’ll never know for sure, since it is illegal to abandon children in China. It is highly unlikely that her mother will ever seek her out for fear of significant retribution.

I read recently that cleft lip and palate happens in 1 out of every 500 births in Asian countries, so very common. And sadly, many cannot afford the surgeries to make their children well. In China you must pay up front for any surgeries, and if you don’t have it, you don’t get treated. How lucky we are in this country to have most if not all of our basic healthcare needs met.

After reading her file we looked at the pictures provided. She is precious. I can’t wait to be able to show you all. Our agency asks that we wait until we have our “Letter of Approval” (LOA) to show pictures of her. This can take anywhere between 36 and 136 days! After we get the LOA, it will be approximately 2 months to travel, leaving time for all the other official documents and processes that have to take place.

We can’t wait to bring her home. 5 years is long enough to be without your forever parent. Pray for us that it will be sooner rather than later. Pray for favor with the Chinese government, that they would find us completely acceptable to be her parents (quickly). Pray for her protection there in that orphanage, and pray for the preparation of her heart and ours, all 6 of us! This is exciting and scary stuff. We are grateful God is using us in this way and praying for his provision throughout.

Much love for all our supportive friends and family,

Christine