ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠWhen Beth and I adopted Amelia and Charlie, I knew that some of our students might have questions about our adoption, so I wrote a piece for the weekly calendar. I thought it made sense at this time to update parts of what I wrote then so that parents would be assisted if their child had any related questions:
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠChildren might wonder why we're adopting a child. There are lots of reasons, but most importantly because we wanted to have a larger family and another child to love and help grow. If they ask why we're not having a child by birth, you can say you don't know or that you suspect it might have to do with our age. They might wonder why we're adopting a Chinese child. The answer is that, after weighing many factors, we realized that for our family China was the best place to find a young, healthy child who was well cared for and who needed a home. They might ask why Maeve's birth parents didn't keep her. We are not really certain but suspect they couldn't provide the kind of life for her that they wanted to. Where is she now? Living in an orphanage in Guangdong Province in the south of China. Why can't she come home right away? Because we have to go to China and adopt her under their laws; then we have to complete a lot of paperwork so that she can leave that country and enter ours. When will she come home? November 18. The list could go on, but I'll stop there, especially since most children won't have any questions at all! But for other questions, I've put on the counter in the main office an excellent, quick-to-read resource for adults. It's entitled When Friends Ask About Adoption and is written in a question and answer format.
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠI can't tell you how much Beth and I appreciate the support we have received from The Country School community as we approach this big event in our family. We feel truly blessed that our family is growing, and we feel truly grateful for all your good wishes.