Our Perfect Fate Was Waiting

A couple with three daughters adopts a girl through the China Child of Promise program

by: SueAnn Rand

I got “the itch” shortly after my husband and I decided for sure that we were not having any more children. We were so very blessed to have three healthy, beautiful daughters.  What more could we ask for? I had the itch, nonetheless, and after discussing our many options, adoption seemed to call to us.

Our decision to adopt another girl was not even a decision really, though we would have been happy with a boy if we had one anywhere along the way, that was not the path chosen for us. Girls are just what we know and do best. We had many friends who had adopted from China and heard about the great need of forever families for girls. What a great life experience for our very lucky daughters and a wonderful opportunity for us to grow as a family while reaching out to a little girl halfway around the world.

A friend of a friend had adopted three children from China through Holt, and that was all we needed to hear, Holt was our choice. After starting the paper chase in April 2007, our dossier was logged in with China in June. After a few months, we were very discouraged to hear of the increasing wait times for adoption within China.

We had heard a little about the China Child of Promise option but didn’t really think it was right for us – quite frankly it scared me! After exploring it a little and learning that we were in control of the types of special needs we were willing to consider, we decided to fill out the minor/correctable needs conditions list.

By the time we were finished researching the different conditions, it seemed we hadn’t really selected many that we were ok with, but we finally submitted our list to Holt in December. I’ve always believed things work out the way they are supposed to, and I knew our perfect fate was waiting.

Just four months later, I got “the call” at work and was overwhelmed with excitement, nervousness and anxiousness. As I listened to the details of our new daughter, I was overcome with joy! I called my husband to tell him the news and anxiously awaited the email with the official written information from Holt, and the pictures of course!

After a delay in getting the email (it seemed like DAYS, but was actually just a few hours), we KNEW she was our daughter. Xi Nian Qiong was born October 12, 2007 in Kunming, China. She was found the day she was born and taken to the local orphanage. She was born with a small hole in her heart and a tiny bump above her right eyebrow. Our wonderful physician reviewed her file for us very late that night and gave us the medical “ok”.

The hole in her heart was likely to heal on its own and if not, would require a very minor procedure to fix, and the bump above her eyebrow was likely purely cosmetic. We received an update in July that she was living with a foster family – this was very exciting news! We also received additional photos – what an incredibly beautiful baby we were to be blessed with.

We left for China in September, and were united with Calista Hope, on Sunday, September 21, 2008. Words cannot describe the emotions of that day. What an absolutely perfect little girl we were chosen to be the forever family for.

We had a wonderful trip, with Holt guiding us and helping us every step of the way. At the medical check-up in Guangzhou, we were told her heart had healed. We were very excited, but wanted to wait until we returned to the US to confirm this. Upon our return, our physician did indeed confirm that her heart had healed on its own and the tiny bump was purely cosmetic and nothing needed to be done with it. We were blessed with a perfectly healthy little girl AND shortened our wait time incredibly.

We had our daughter home with us by October, just a short 18 months from our initial (non China Child of Promise) application to Holt.

If you are even thinking about the Child of Promise option, go ahead and fill out the medical conditions list – you have NOTHING to lose and a beautiful child to gain! Calista fits in with our family perfectly. There is no doubt that she was born into this world to be a Rand girl!

Please feel free to contact me at SABRmeow@aol.com if you’d like to ask any questions. Sincerely, SueAnn Rand

View the Minor/Correctable Conditions Checklist…