Dear Holt China Families:

Last year Holt matched many children with families through the China Child of Promise option, and many of these families are already home and in process for another child from China!

Although this program has proven to be a huge success, many children are still waiting, and we don’t have enough families joining this option.

If you know anyone who may consider opening their homes and hearts to a child with a minor to moderate, treatable medical condition such as cleft/lip palate, minor heart conditions, or adopting a boy with a minor condition, please inform them about this program.

Joining this program does not exclude you from the standard waiting process; it simply expands your options and gives you the chance to be matched with a child much quicker.

If you are waiting exclusively in the standard process, you might join one of our Webinars to learn more about the children available through the Child of Promise option. Also, take a look at Holt’s minor/correctable conditions checklist of conditions, which you can fill out at any time, checking the boxes of the conditions you feel are within your capacity.

This year many families who were waiting in the standard process have found the China Child of Promise option to be very gratifying! You can see the benefits of this program by reading the China Child of Promise family stories below and viewing the online photo gallery of the children who have been matched with families.

DOB: August 1, 2000

This handsome young man enjoys drawing and does well in school.  He came into care as a newborn, and his cleft lip and palate were treated surgically in 2005.  Hunter has had extensive speech therapy, but his speech is still unclear at times.  Well liked by his peers, Hunter was the first child to raise his hand and introduce himself at camp.  He needs a family experienced in parenting past his age and who can provide him with the medical care or therapies he may require.

Adopting a Waiting Child
Sometimes children have healthcare needs or other special challenges that make it more difficult to find adoptive families. They may be part of a sibling group, or no longer infants or toddlers. We call these our waiting children, and they deserve to have families of their own.
Learn more about the Waiting Child Program.

We wanted to add another son to our family and, through Holt’s Child of Promise program, we brought Will home just one year and one day after we signed the papers to begin our home study!

When we started to discuss adding a final child to our family, we realized that we had several prerequisites that made it challenging to locate a program that fit all of them. We wanted a son–that was the easy one. We also wanted our child to come home at under 2 years old, and the clincher was that we wanted him to be about 18 months younger than our youngest child at the time. This meant that we would need to complete an adoption in about a year. How in the world could this happen when adoption time-lines are increasing in so many programs?

Answer: Holt’s Child of Promise program. After talking to Holt’s China staff, we became very excited about the potential addition to our family of a child with a minor to moderate need. When a staff member asked me if we were open to either gender, my heart sank….”No, we are only open to a son,” I replied. The excitement and joy in his voice reassured me immediately as he exclaimed, “Really? You want a son? This is great! We have so many boys that need families! Your referral will come very quickly!”

Let me jump to the present! Will is such an amazing little guy! He makes us laugh each day as he imitates what we do, runs around the house after his siblings, and tries to say new words. His smile and giggle bring joy to each of our hearts. He fits right into our family, and although he has only been home for seven weeks, it feels like he has been with us from the start.

If you are frustrated by waiting in the China standard program or contemplating adding another child to your family, I urge you to download the “Minor/Correctable conditions” checklist from Holt’s website and take it to a pediatrician to review. We were very surprised to learn how many children that would be considered “healthy” by American standards are waiting for families in the “minor/correctable needs” program in China. In our situation, our pediatrician thinks that the hole in Will’s heart that labeled him “special needs” healed before the adoption was completed. Holt’s China Child of Promise program was the best decision we could have made…it brought us our amazing son!

by: Elizabeth

Children in China Who Need Adoptive Families…
Before it’s too late
They hope you will consider one of them to be your next son or daughter

Holt International and the government of China are urgently looking for families to adopt 29 children from a program in southern China. If they reach 14 years of age, they will no longer be eligible for international adoption, and their chance to belong in a permanent, loving family will be lost. Because of Holt’s commitment to finding families for all children and the success of our Waiting Child Program, Chinese officials have given Holt access to videos and detailed information in order to find families for these 29 beautiful children.

The Children:
• Boys and girls 7-12 years old
• Many now live with foster families
• Some have special needs

Go to the Journey of Hope General Photolisting to view initial pictures of these children.

Register or log-in for access to videos and more photos of the children.

by Michele Mazzio

Adoption was something that my husband and I talked about many years ago, particularly after we lost our son, Brendan, to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) in 2001. After a long grief process we started to explore and research domestic and international adoption. We discussed the programs and met with various people who had adopted internationally.

As a teenage girl I dreamed of having a little girl from China, and my husband was open to this, as well. After a little over a year of paperwork and wait time, we adopted our daughter, Emma from the Province of Guangdong in 2005. After so many years of empty hearts and arms we held our healthy 15-month old little girl. We were so excited and thrilled to have been blessed by this gift.

Emma is now an amazing 5-year-old girl who loves to hula-hoop, do gymnastics, play the piano and just enjoy life every day. As her pre-K teacher tells her: “You are the sunshine in my classroom.” She has certainly been my sunshine and warms my heart every day. Emma has taught us so much more about love and life and the importance of family.  She has even taught me how to parent a child after the loss of another.

My husband and I decided that we wanted to take another journey back to China and adopt another little girl. We completed our paperwork and submitted our dossier to China in 2006. At the time we knew that the wait would be longer than before but not that the wait time would get extended each month that went by.

One day I was reading an article about Holt’s Child of Promise Program and about little boys who need families, too. When I think about adoption from China, I only naturally think about the little girls. I had never thought about adopting a boy from China.

My husband and I discussed the program and explored the possibility of being open to adopting a boy. After so many years had gone by and having my broken heart mended by my beautiful daughter, we called Holt and told them that we would like to be considered as a prospective family in the China Child of Promise Program, and in addition, that we preferred adopting a boy with a mild, correctable medical condition.

I’ll never forget the day I spoke to Brian Bradford at Holt.  He was so happy to hear that we were open to adopting a boy. Furthermore, he told me that it could be a matter of weeks until we received a phone call (something I couldn’t comprehend after waiting for 2 years). We submitted our medical checklist in November and received the phone call in December about a 13-month-old little boy with clubfeet.

After contacting pediatric orthopedic doctors about the severity of his feet and condition, we were told that he has a mild case of clubfeet and would be easily corrected by serial casting and braces. We knew this was the child that we had long waited for.

For me it was that opportunity to provide a life to a little boy that we couldn’t give to our biological son. We left for China in April. Words cannot even express how much love I have for Daniel. He is truly an amazing boy and has shown me once again that life should be lived with joy and happiness. Daniel has gone through a lot since we brought him home, but he laughs and smiles every day. He completed a month and a half of serial casting for his feet and is now wearing his braces. He will only need to wear the braces at night after about a year, until he is about 3. Our two children have truly blessed us, and I never thought how much my life would be completed by my family.

I am writing this article not only to share our story with you, but also to connect with those who are willing to open their hearts to the little boys who need good homes, too. If you can open your hearts and minds, adopting a boy can be a significantly rewarding and memorable experience, as it has for us.

by: David and Jennifer Lotspeich

“Have you considered a boy? Boys in China with minor needs are in great need of loving families,” said our Holt social worker, Judy.

Have you ever been driving, just enjoying the trip and almost missed your turn? You slam on the brakes-hopefully there is no one behind you-and you just barely make your turn. This phrase hit us just like that. My husband and I started our process in January 2008 thinking like most that we would receive a little girl.

“A boy?” We hadn’t even considered a boy.” I had my mind set on pigtails and frilly dresses, not cut off jeans and ball caps. I got on the Holt message board and asked other China families to post pictures of their little men. One look and my husband and I were hooked.

For the next six months we were always working on something. Working on our dossier, applying for grants or working on additional fundraising. At times it seemed overwhelming, but in June we heard those life-changing words: “We have a little boy we think would be a good match for you.” To hear those words, and even to remember hearing them almost makes me weak in the knees.

From June until November we prepared to bring our Jonathan home. I painted bedrooms and held bake/garage sales. David had the large responsibility of applying for additional grants and no interest loans. We placed Jonathan’s picture on our refrigerator, and he became a part of our everyday conversation.

One day I made conge because his referral said that he ate it everyday. I tried to bring a little bit of China to our family. My children still have not acquired a taste for it. As each day passed, my heart longed to hold him more and more. Then in early October we received our travel dates. As I type and reflect, the word that comes to mind is “surreal.” All of our work and preparation with this day in mind, and it was finally here.
The very next day we started making plans, buying tickets, making freezer meals and the list went on and on.

We left the day before Thanksgiving and received our Jonathan on November 30th. After that day, China was still enjoyable, but as you can imagine, it was also very difficult.

Jonathan was very sad and most of the time had a very confused expression, which broke our hearts. Now that we look back on it, if we were able to go back in time we would have educated ourselves more thoroughly about bonding issues with adopted children, especially those over a year old.

For the next five months we struggled a great deal with bonding. Not only was Jonathan going through the grieving process, but he was also trying to find his place in our family as we were getting familiar with him. My advice: educate yourself about everything. Talk to other families that have gone before you and gain a support system. It may be one of the most difficult things you have ever done, but like the saying goes, “This too shall pass.” Jonathan has now been home for 6 months and 10 days. He continues to go through the grieving process and has both good and bad days like any other toddler, but he is our Jonathan, and our life is by far much richer with him in it.

My husband and I chose to be open to adopting a boy because you do not get to choose your biological children. You are simply blessed with what God has given you. We saw our adoption the same way…and we have been blessed with Jonathan.

Director of Services, China Program

Dear China Families:

Holt International continues to see many children joining adoptive families through our China Child of Promise program-matching over 150 children with parents since January. This is just amazing, and it makes me so happy to know that children from China with minor, correctable needs are finally in permanent, loving homes.

However, Holt desperately needs families who will open their hearts and consider adopting a boy with minor, correctable needs.  Currently there are very few families who have indicated openness to either gender. Boys in China need loving families just as much as girls, and we at Holt want to give these beautiful children every opportunity to experience the joy and love of a permanent family. Opening your options to consider a boy could decrease your wait time drastically and put you well on your way to bringing home a son from China.

If you are currently in the China Child of Promise program and have not expressed willingness to consider either gender, I urge you consider a boy waiting to come home to a loving family. Contact Brian Bradford for more information on how you can adopt a son from China.

I hope you will read the stories below from families who have adopted sons from China. I hope they serve as an inspiration to you and perhaps encourage you to consider bringing home a boy who desperately needs a family.

Sincerely,

Beth Smith
Director of Services
China Program

By: Melinda Richards

Ron and I were waiting for our healthy baby girl, like many other families adopting from China. We are an older couple, 46 and 50 respectively, and we were hopeful to add to our family soon. My 21-year-old daughter was also anxiously anticipating the arrival of a baby sister. In the beginning of 2008 we contacted our social worker and found out that we might be waiting another two years! She asked if we were willing to consider adopting a child with a minor medical need. And would we be open to a boy?

Our decision to pursue adoption through Holt’s China Child of Promise option was guided by yet another pull at our heartstrings. We had the means, access to top medical care, and just the right amount of strength and love to meet his needs. And a boy! What an incredible surprise!

We received a referral for Nate within three weeks from submitting the paperwork. Ron and I reviewed his extensive medical records and photos while eating a Chinese takeout dinner. Liu Qizhou, 15 months old, repaired cleft lip, bright-eyed and full of gumption. Was this our child? We were searching for a sign. Lo and behold, we opened a fortune cookie and read: “Your ability to love will help a child in need.”

The journey to Nathan has been full of anticipation and unknowns. He is healing well from palate surgery that took place in September, and now that he is two, we are all immersed in the endless flowing energy from our forever son. Certainly, our path to Nathan has led us to a true celebration of gratitude.
View the China Child of Promise Photo Gallery….

By adopting a perfectly healthy boy with a missing limb, this family got just the son they wanted

by Sheri Quirie

When I answered the phone, I had no idea how important that call would be. Our social worker asked, “How much purple paint did you get painted last night?” “One wall,” was my answer. “Why?”

“Well, we have a 10-month-old boy we’d like you to consider. Would you like to review his file?” This call caught me completely off guard. After all, I had talked to our social worker the previous day and was told that our wait for a referral was probably going to be about five more months. When it finally registered that she’d said “boy,” my first verbalized thought was, “What’s wrong with him?” Our social worker said, “Oh, nothing really. He’s missing part of an arm.”

I called my husband, David, at work and said, “I think we have a son.” When I asked if we should review his file, David responded with a “Yes!”

Less than an hour after that initial phone call, I had several pages of information and five pictures in front of me. David and I read through everything that evening and contacted our doctor for his opinion. None of us saw any red flags or had any hesitations. Fu Zi Jian was our son! Three months later, we were in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China, and Micah officially became our son.

How did we know that this boy was our son? Well, my first question was: “What’s wrong with him.” We now know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Micah. In fact, limb differences run in our family. Micah’s daddy has one leg that is shorter than the other; his grandpa is missing two fingers.

Limb differences was one of a very few medical issues that we were open to. You and your family know what you can and can’t handle. When considering a China Child of Promise, it’s 100 percent okay to say yes to things others would hesitate at. It’s okay to say no to things that others are comfortable with. Micah’s special need requires an annual visit with a pediatric orthopedic specialist. We drive about an hour for that appointment. It’s very doable for us. Otherwise, he’s perfectly healthy. In fact, our Holt guide in China told us that his Chinese name translates to “Healthy Child.” How appropriate that is for this precious boy!

Are you considering a China Child of Promise? A boy, perhaps! Let us be the first to encourage you! It’s not always an easy road, but it is so worth it. Let me encourage you to educate yourself. Read more on the medical conditions you’re not familiar with. Ask questions of other families who have experience with a condition you want to know more about. There are Yahoo groups for all kinds of adoption issues, and that includes medical conditions. Ask questions of your physician. Consider how the medical needs and possible surgeries, appointments and so on would work with your family and lifestyle.

Realize that you will be your child’s best (and sometimes only!) advocate. If your child has a physical medical condition, can you handle the stare and the pointing and the questions? We get stares; we get pointed at; we get questions. We deal with those as they come. Sometimes we respond; sometimes, we ignore the situation. Sometimes we have opportunity to educate the other person. Micah’s learning to respond appropriately, too. We’ve learned that we need to be the example to him more than we need to satisfy the curiosity of others. If your child has an invisible medical condition… think about who you will share that information with and how those people may respond. Once you share it, it can’t be taken back.

Don’t consider adopting a Child of Promise simply because the wait is shorter than China’s regular program. When we were offered Micah’s referral, our social worker said, “Don’t say yes to this boy because it means you have a child now. Say yes because it means you have your child forever.” I’d encourage you to do the same. Don’t “settle” for a boy because the wait is shorter.

People typically bring girls home from China. Hooray! It’s always reason to celebrate when families are united. But, there are boys needing families, too. Would you consider adding some “rough and tumble” to your house? Would you love a little guy enough to teach him how to climb a tree or build a fort? Would you entertain the possibility of saying, “Yes, he’s from China. I know he’s a boy.” Would you love a son with an illness or medical condition and provide the care he needs for a future he’ll never have outside of his forever family? Would you pray about being mom and dad to a funny, silly, smart, busy, energetic ball of fire who sometimes will drive you crazy? Would you feel privileged to be the one who hears, “You’re my bestest mom/dad.”

We’ve been blessed beyond measure with our “little mister.” To us, he’s perfect… even with his little arm. He’s ours, and we’re his. As we say in our house… we are a “bestest family, three-way hug, blessings everywhere.”

When a long-waiting couple opened their hearts to a boy, their assignment came quickly.

Excerpts from the blog of Lisa Ronda

We started out our adoption process only open to a girl, as young and healthy as possible. So to end our adoption with a boy who was 2 1/2 years old with a minor special need was sort of our “surprise” ending.

We were just over two years into our adoption when we decided to talk with Kris Bales, our Holt social worker, and just learn a little more about adopting a child with minor healthcare conditions, now known as the China Child of Promise Option. We figured asking a few questions couldn’t hurt anything.

Kris mentioned that if we were open to a boy, we might be matched more quickly, as most families in the program were not open to boy adoptions. We knew that we would be adopting a second child from China as soon as we finished our first adoption. So we decided if we were matched with a boy this time, we could always request a match with a girl next time.

We opened up the age range to include 2 years and under, boy or girl with minor healthcare needs. Within several weeks we were presented with Zhao Jian Hui, now named Aaron. His healthcare need was unfamiliar to us, but after discussing his medical records with our pediatrician, we felt that it was within the scope of what we were able to take care of.

Aaron’s medical condition was completely corrected with a minor surgery. He is wonderful and very healthy. We feel so blessed to have been matched with him and are so thankful that God placed it in our hearts to open our match criteria when He did, so that Aaron could be brought into our family!

Aaron is our second son, and Josiah, who is biological, is older. Their bond was slow to develop; but after they had a little time to work through some “turf” issues, they have become the best of friends. They are 12 months apart and share June birthdays.

Curiosity About Boys
We get a lot of interesting comments from friends, family and strangers about adopting a boy from China. We hear things like, “It must be hard to get a boy from China!” “How did you get a boy out of China?” “I didn’t know you could adopt a boy from China.” “You’re really lucky to get a boy from China.”

To that I say, “Yes, we were!”

Because families adopting from China have so little background information on their children, it’s hard to put a story together for their child about how he or she came to be a part of the family.

I suppose it’s a little easier to explain to a girl from China about the family planning policies and the economic situation elderly parents are in if they don’t have a son to care for them, etc. You can create some “pat answers” based on Chinese culture and customs and guess why parents who loved their baby enough to choose life for them, were faced with such a painful decision to find parents for a child that they were unable to raise in a system that doesn’t allow them to make an adoption plan legally. I struggled with how we would handle those types of questions someday for a boy who was adopted from China since there is such a strong stereotype about Chinese boys being wanted with the girls being unwanted.

I still don’t have any really easy answers to those tough questions that might come someday, but I know that Aaron’s birth mother loved him enough to choose birth over abortion. She left a sweet note with him that read, “Poor son was born on June 17, 2005. We can’t afford to raise him. We hope some kind-hearted people could adopt him. Thanks a lot!”

She also chose a very safe, beautiful place for him to be found so that he could be placed into an adopted family. These are all things we are thankful for even though there are so many pieces to his story that will remain unknown.

He was found in the brushwood near a pavilion in a beautiful park on West Lake. Because he was found in the grasses of a park on the water, we immediately thought of baby Moses, who was adopted into a family of another culture and used mightily by God. It is our prayer that Aaron will identify not only with his Chinese past and our family, but also with God’s forever 
family.