The Beijing Zoo

I had wanted to see as much as possible during our short stay in Beijing, so I had scheduled a trip to the Beijing Zoo for the same day that we had arrived. Our guide Steven had planned for us to step off the plane and head straight to the Zoo. We had no way of knowing when we left the US that it would be 100 degrees that day in Beijing. We were dressed way to warmly and felt extremely tired from our flight. The Zoo raises over 650 different types of animals. It is also home to some of China's Giant Panda Bears. The pandas were the main focus of the zoo and many people visit just for the opportunity to watch the bears. Some of the other animals were living in somewhat poor conditions, as compared to standards at US zoos. Many of the animals were very close to the public. I witnessed people throwing pop bottles at the monkeys and all sorts of things at the brown bears.

Heading to Beijing

On September 17, my mother, oldest son and I left for Beijing. As I walked across the tarmac, I couldn't help but let my eyes fill up with tears. I was finally going to meet my daughter!!

Over Siberia
We took a direct flight on a 777 from Newark to Beijing. Many people have asked if we flew east or west. The answer is neither. We headed north over Canada and the North Pole. We had a smooth flight and plenty to eat, but 13 hours is a very long time on a plane. Unfortunately, I was so excited about everything that I wasn't able to sleep.

As soon as we arrived in Beijing, we met up with our guide Steven. I was so relieved to see him standing there waiting for us. (I had discovered that it was much less expensive to book our Beijing tour for ourselves. The adoption agency wanted quite a bit more money.) We hired Beijing Xinhua Tours. They did an excellent job!!! They were waiting with a very nice Mercedes van. As we left the airport, the first thing that struck was me was the traffic. I have never seen anything like it!! New York City seems tame in comparison.

The Call

Waiting for China to approve our adoption, seemed to take forever. It really wasn't very long, but when you are waiting to meet your child every day seems like an eternity.

Day 78 of the wait arrived. I was starting to feel like our approval would never come. I checked the mail again!! I opened up the mail box and there was a flyer from Samaritan's Purse. On the last page was a picture of beautiful little girl from China. I ran inside and told my husband that it was "a sign" that today we would receive approval to go get our daughter. Not 10 minutes later the phone rang. I ran to the phone and didn't even bother to look at the caller ID. I knew it was our Adoption Agency. I was right. They had just gotten our approval from China. It was time to pack our bags.

Datong SWI

Microtia

While we were waiting for travel approval from China, my family tried to learn all that we could about Microtia. This is one of the medical conditions our daughter was born with. We are not Doctors, but this is some of the information that we have found.

Microtia is a birth deformity of the ear. It effects approximately 1 in 7,000 people. The term microtia literally means "small ear". In 90% of cases only one ear is involved. More often on the right side. At this time, the exact cause of microtia is unclear. People with microtia often also have atresia which is the lack of an outer ear canal. Many times the bones of the middle ear are also involved. A CT scan is used to determine the status of the middle ear. Some people may have underdeveloped bony and soft tissues on the involved side of the face. This is know as hemifacial microtia. Approximately 15% of people with microtia have facial nerve weakness. There is also a higher incidence of kidney and heart abnormalities among people with microtia. A renal ultrasound is used to determine the status of the kidneys.
When a person with unilateral microtia has normal hearing in the unaffected ear than most of the time a hearing aid is not required. They will have trouble hearing in crowds and often have trouble knowing which direction a sound is coming from.

Paper Chasing

This part of the adoption process I highly under appreciated. I figured that if I gathered my paperwork quickly the whole process would go smoothly and quickly. I did not realize that although I was in a hurry, every other person in the world could care less how quickly my dossier was completed. This was just the beginning in my lesson in patience.

My criminal background check was is an excellent example. Twice they spelled our names wrong and once they typed up the wrong address. During my fourth visit to the office, the secretary complained about my being "SO PICKY" . She also informed me that she was tired of having to type up my forms. I immediately let her know of my feelings. I broke out into tears right then and there. I told her that she may be unhappy about all the mistakes, but I could guarantee that I was much more upset about it. I explained that "Every time you type it up incorrectly that means one more day that my daughter spends living in an orphanage." I went on to say that it meant one more day that I would miss holding my daughter in my arms, and one more day of her life that I would miss out on!!! Then, I looked right at her and said " If it's typed correctly this time, then we will both be happy, and my daughter will get to come home." The secretary quietly replied "I will make sure that it is right this time". It was!!

We also had to wait almost 2 months for our I171 form. We called the office many times but the person in charge never seemed to be able to give us any other answer than they were working on it.

Finally, after a total of 41/2 months we could send our Dossier to China.