Adoption Day! We ate breakfast at the buffet and then we all boarded the bus to go to the Children’s Hospital. My agency, Adoptions Together, had arranged for us to take the babies there for a medical examination to reassure us that the children were healthy. We stood outside the hospital while Shihong and Shirley made arrangements inside, attracting many stares from the Chinese going in and out of the hospital, and then we took the elevator upstairs and waited as a group in a large waiting room with hard plastic seats as each child (with parent) was taken individually into another smaller room. All of the nurses wore uniforms and traditional nurses’ caps. Elizabeth and I went in when called, and she was weighed, her head was measured, and the doctor quickly looked her over. He pronounced her to be very healthy! We all then got back on the bus and went to the Civil Affairs Office. We walked up a flight of stairs and into a long room—actually two interconnecting rooms, with chairs along the wall and low tables in front of the chairs. (It is the very same room shown in the National Geographic documentary, Lost Girls of China). The director and staff from the orphanage were waiting there for us. After a while, the room became really warm. We (Elizabeth and I, with Sylvia acting as photographer and Shirley acting as interpreter) then went into a small office, where a woman sat behind a desk, asked me several questions (Am I happy with the baby? Will I promise to love her?), and then had me sign several forms. We then went back out to the large room, where the orphanage director presented Elizabeth with two gifts (porcelain figurines from Jingdezhen) and gave me back most of the things that I had mailed to her before travel: the photo album, a disposable camera, and the stuffed dog. We then completed the adoption paperwork—Elizabeth with her footprint in red ink, and I with my thumbprint in red ink. Next, we went into a different room to have a photo taken of the two of us together. This family picture was attached to the adoption paperwork. From the Civil Affairs Office, we went by bus to another building, took the elevator upstairs, and stood in a hallway. Elizabeth fell asleep in my arms while we waited. We then went, one family at a time, into another small office to meet with another official. Elizabeth slept through my interview with this man and my signing a few more forms. And that was it! We were officially a family! We celebrated by going shopping at one of my favorite stores—Wal-Mart! This Wal-Mart was a little different than the ones I am familiar with—it was a multi-story building—but very similar in other ways. I didn’t see any live animals for sale which are often mentioned in blogs written by other adoptive parents (thank goodness)(maybe next time?). Auntie bought Elizabeth a Winnie-the-Pooh stroller, and I bought diapers and more Chinese formula. We paid for our purchases at the register, just like in the U.S., and then came back to the hotel for dinner. That night, back in our room, Elizabeth was very sick—she threw up all over me –and I was really worried because her breathing was very labored and she was so hot. Poor little baby--all I wanted was to make her feel better! I sat up on the loveseat that night, holding her in my arms—neither one of us slept very well at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment