Raising Funds for Ying Rong

We have been very blessed with donations to our adoption fund; we are grateful for this financial support, and for everyone who is praying for us, for our intentions, and for Ying Rong. We have set a goal to raise $32,000 for our adoption. The cost of adopting a child from China is nearly $30,000. Not included in this cost are fees for ordering documents, mailing documents, background checks, training expenses, our home study, post-adoption services and reports, and little things like stamps and gas, etc. In addition to expenses for the adoption process, we will also have a loss of income for two weeks when Joe travels to  China to get Ying Rong. China requires at least one parent to travel, and since we have 3 little ones at home, we have decided that Joe will go.

We have set up a fundraising profile on the website, Adopt Together (adopttogether.org/thedorans) where donors can offer their support.  So far, $10,150 has been generously donated to help us bring Ying Rong home.  We are keeping all of our benefactors in our prayers. May God bless you all abundantly for your love and support!

More to come....... Fundraising at our Parish Fair and Applying for Adoption Grants 


                                          

We've Started Our Home Study........& Are ONE Step Closer.....

Our Home Study is officially under way!  Our Social Worker visited our home for the first time last week and it went well. She gave us an overview of the study and handed over a huge packet of paperwork that we need to complete. We were told it could take a couple months to finish the study, but I am hoping to get it done sooner than that. The process does not seem quite as daunting as the dossier because we don't have to notarize, certify and authenticate everything. Also, a lot of the paperwork is similar to what we are doing for our dossier, so it's just a matter of transferring the information to another form. Finding time to do paperwork is a challenge, but we are getting it done.... one step at at time! I hope this time next year Ying Rong is enjoying a hike with the rest of us!

 

Could You Host and Orphan?

We met little Ying Rong through the China Hosting Program. We did not think we would qualify to adopt, so we decided we would host a child. We wanted to at least give Ying Rong the chance to experience being in a family, and we had planned to advocate for her,  to help find her a family.

Elizabeth's Letter to Ying Rong

Our five year old daughter, Elizabeth, is always thinking about Ying Rong. Today she drew this picture for her.

From left to right: Elizabeth, Ying Rong.

Adoption Update

We have started working on our dossier, which is a pile of paperwork we create and/or obtain. Each document we gather or create has to be notarized, certified, and authenticated -   to certify a document we have to send it to the Secretary of State who will verify the Notary Public's name, after which we send everything to the appropriate Chinese Consulate/Embassy to verify the Secretary of State's name. Once all of our documents have been "sealed" (notarized, certified and authenticated) they will go to China for review.  We have a lot of work ahead of us, but knowing that little Ying Rong is waiting, patiently, on the other end, keeps us motivated!

New Photo of Ying Rong

We received a recent photo of Ying Rong yesterday and the orphanage said that she is doing really well. 

Letter to Ying Rong

We were given permission to send a letter to Ying Rong telling her that we are adopting her!  A family friend translated our letter from English to Chinese:

Dear Ying Rong,

How are you? We are very excited to see you again. Papa will come for you as soon as the adoption agency tells us he can. He will take an airplane to China to get you and then the two of you will fly home to our house, where you will see Mama, Elizabeth, Joseph, baby Luke, and all the animals (Bosco and Jenny, the chickens, ducks, pigs, and cats). We hope you will also soon see your cousins and grandparents. Do you remember Mr. and Mrs. Sun from the Chinese restaurant? You have a photo in your book of you and Mrs. Sun. Mr. Sun is helping us write letters to you, and we will take you to visit the Sun family when you come to the United States.

We think of you all the time and we pray for you every day. Mama and Papa hope you are happy and having fun with your friends. We love you and we will see you soon!

Love and prayers,

Papa and Mama
             &
Elizabeth, Joseph and Luke

Newest photo of Ying Rong

Ying Rong at the orphanage playing with one of her friends.

Fundraising Update

We are raising funds for our adoption on the site, AdoptTogether.  We were amazed and very grateful for the generosity of our friends and family who helped us pay our first agency fee ($2,900) and home study fee ($1,200). Within hours of posting our profile, we had raised the funds we needed for these first fees.  We want to thank you all for your prayers and financial support, and for taking part in bringing our little girl home.

adopttogether.org/thedorans