Tim and Pat were married in Sept. 1998.  He was a bachelor and she was a widow with two children, Ed age 21 and Erin 12.  During the spring of 1999, Erin came home from a friend’s house and announced that more children were needed in our household and that we could adopt. It was one of those ideas that we filed away in the back of our mind.

That November Tim was driving and he heard an ad on the radio.  There was a free seminar being held on Chinese adoption. He mentioned it to Pat and she said that she had heard it as well.  We decided to attend, without Erin.  When we left, we did not tell Erin where we were going.  We did not want to get her excited about it in case it didn’t work out.

We attended and listened to the presentation.  When we left, we had the information that was provided.  Based upon that information, we knew that we qualified to adopt a child from China. Over the next couple weeks, we prayed and discussed it.  By the time Thanksgiving arrived, we had decided to proceed.  We then told Erin. Her first questions were, "Why China? Why not an American child?"  After her initial questions, she started to get excited about it.

We did not start our paperwork until January 2000.  It took us almost six months to complete it. During that time we were also preoccupied with building a house.  Erin would keep asking how we were doing with the paperwork.  She could not wait for us to adopt a sister for her.  Finally, in June our paperwork was sent to our agency.  After reviewing it, they sent it on to China.

Then came the wait.  We had to wait an entire year in order to receive our referral.  Finally, in June 2001 we saw our first picture of our new daughter, Kaylyn.

We left for China that August.  Tim and Pat had decided early in the process that we were going to take Erin with us.  She was part of the family, and after all, in a way it was her idea.  At that time, Erin had never flown on an airplane nor had she been out of the USA.  We wanted her to see what the conditions were like in another country.

Upon arriving in China, we had two days of sightseeing in the Beijing area.  During that time we walked on the Great Wall, saw Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and several other places.  Finally, on August 20, we saw and held Kaylyn for the very first time.  She was 18 months old at the time.  The next day she officially became ours with the completion of the paperwork at the Chinese Civil Affairs Office.

Our lives have never been the same since.  While we were in China, Kaylyn attached to Erin first, Dad was a distance second, and Mom, well Kaylyn wanted nothing to do with her.  As an example, if we were eating and Pat would give her some food, she would initially eat it, but when she realized who gave it to her, she would spit it out.  This caused some anxious moments for both Pat and Erin.  Within three days of being back home, this changed.  She want to spend time with each of us.

Kaylyn has added life to our family.  She gets so excited about things.  She gives us that total love and devotion so readily given by children.  She likes to do things as a family.  Among her favorite places to visit are the zoo, the beach, and the library.  She has adapted to American life very well, although when asked where she wants to go out to eat, her answer is almost always Chinese.

To try an retain some of her Chinese heritage, we have joined the local FCC (Families with Children from China) group.  There she gets to meet and play with other children adopted from China.  We also have an annual reunion with the other ten families that traveled with us to China.  It is good to see all these children growing up.  So far, five of these families, including us, have adopted an additional Chinese child. 

 With a Chinese adoption, an official in China decides which child is given to each family.  In every case we know, the child's personality fits the family.  While we were in China the first time, one of the other moms saw Tim carrying Kaylyn and commented about how much she resembled him.  At times, we see some of Erin's personality and actions in Kaylyn.

Some people are concerned that they can't love an adopted child.  If she was our biological child, it would be impossible to love her more than we do.

Kaylyn has been such a joy to us, that we decided to adopt a second child, also from China.  This time we asked for a boy.  Our paperwork was sent in December 2004.  In June 2005, we were referred a boy, and saw the first pictures of our son, Timothy Ryan.  He was two and a half years old at referral and from the same province as Kaylyn.  In August 2005, Tim, Pat, and Kaylyn traveled to China to bring him home.  It was a chance for her to see, and learn something about her native country.  She was a great traveler, especially during the long airplane flight from Chicago to Beijing.  We received him on August 22, and the adoption occurred the next day.

Today, we have 2 lovely children, both because of international adoption.  Due to China changing their rules, we are unable to adopt another.  I would urge you to seriously consider if adoption could be in your future.