Covers for A Cause

Meet Vivienne!

On January 18, 2019, Kyler and I exited the terminal at the New Orleans airport with our new daughter, Vivienne, and were greeted with welcome signs and balloons from excited family and friends. We had just completed a seventeenday, three city trip to China to meet and bring home our baby girl. The trip was long but nothing short of amazing. The travel between countries and cities was long and often challenging with a new toddler, but the end result of bringing our baby girl home was the biggest blessing of our lives!

My initial contact with our wonderful agency, Children’s House International, which is based in Washington but works with many other states, was in December 2017. The process itself took about thirteen months and required a home study and extensive paperwork through local police and government agencies. Children’s House International guided and supported us as we completed every step. In March of 2018, after our agency completed a matching process, we were sent information on a child which we could choose to accept or not. When we saw our (soon-to-be) daughter’s file, we fell quickly in love and sent our acceptance; we were then given Pre-Approval from China. Finally, in December 2018, we received our Travel Approval from China, booked our flights and hotels, and prepared for the trip of a lifetime!

We left for China on January 3, 2019, and we met our daughter on January 6th. Vivienne had spent the past two years of her life at the Doves Wings Foster Care facility in Xian. Meeting her for the first time is a memory we will forever hold dear in our hearts. Fortunately, the bond between us happened quickly as Vivienne became more comfortable and expressive each day. We spent the remaining two weeks in China completing paperwork

necessary to bring Vivienne home.

Since arriving home, Vivienne has adjusted well and is thriving. She fits perfectly into our family; it is as if she’s been here all along. Adoption has been the biggest blessing and the greatest joy in our lives. Vivienne adds more love and happiness to our family than we could have ever imagined, and we will forever be grateful to our agency, to our family and friends who supported our journey, and, of course, to China. There are still thousands of children who wait, who long for and deserve families just like Vivienne did. The average time frame for a Chinese adoption is approximately twelve to eighteen months. Most of China’s waiting children have special needs that can be treated or corrected in the U.S., but due to lack of funding and resources have not yet been addressed in the orphanage. Currently 70% of the children who wait are boys. There are many ways to support children in orphanages and foster care in the United States and abroad. National Adoption month is celebrated each year in November, and we hope and pray that many more families can personally celebrate this year.

Photos by Abby Ricks, abby_ricks@yahoo.com 504.452.3547 Children’s House International • Adoption Home Studies, Inc.

38 Please say, “I Saw It In Kids & Family New Orleans”

Open Arms Adoption • heartforkids.org