Ying Rong is Home!

A lot has changed in our home over the past month. Ying Rong, now Veronica Josephine, is home with us. Joe traveled to China to finalize the adoption and the two returned home last month. Just about 24 hours before Joe left for China, our fourth biological baby, Miriam Gertrude, was born, at home, delivered by dad!

New Photos of Ying Rong

Travel Plans Begin!

We received our Official Letter of Acceptance from the Chinese Government last week! Our adoption agency has now started making Joe's travel plans and we've been told he will likely go to China at the end of July or beginning of August.

The next two months are going to fly by, with a lot more paperwork to complete and preparations here at home for the arrival of Ying Rong. We will receive one final update from the orphanage about how Ying Rong has been doing over the past several months, and hopefully we'll receive a few new photos as well. And, we are now at the point when we must choose a name for our little girl!

Dossier Complete and Now in China!

We reached a HUGE milestone in our adoption process this past week -  our dossier was sent to China and is now in the hands of the CCCWA! The China Centre for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) will review our dossier and make the final decision about whether we are fit to adopt Ying Rong. Our adoption agency estimates that we will hear from the CCCWA in 4-6 months. 

So, now the LONG wait!

A Post by Aunt Sarah

Below is a post written by Aunt Sarah, from Colorado. I asked her if she would write something about our adoption and she graciously accepted. We stayed with Tom and Sarah and their 5 children when we traveled to pick up Ying Rong from the airport for our 2016 Summer Hosting adventure. It was a brief visit, before we had to travel back to Kansas, but almost everyone was able to meet little Ying Rong. 

Sarah's post describes her thoughts and feelings about our adoption, feelings that I think might be fairly common among extended family members of those who are adopting. Fear, worry and doubts - about the changes and challenges that are ahead for their loved ones, and questions about how they will be able to handle it; concern for their biological nieces and nephews who will, without a doubt, be affected by adding a  new little one.

As the parent to be, I have had these same feelings and asked many of the same questions, and still, I don't have all the answers. I do know, though, like Sarah, that once you've met a child like Ying Rong, you can't help but love her, after which, many of the fears abate, as God gives us the courage to do what He has asked us to do.

Ying Rong with her cousins

When my brother and sister in law told me that they were thinking of adopting a little girl from China I felt a lot of different emotions. I was worried that it would be too much to handle with the 3 little kids they already had. I worried it would alienate them from us since we would not be sharing the same experience. I worried over a lot of things, I guess. All those feelings being felt, and processed, didn’t take too long, and we began to share the excitement of this new adventure with Joe and Melissa.

The trip out here to pick up Ying Rong was eagerly anticipated. We were very excited to see Joe’s family and spend some time with them. We were excited to get to meet Ying Rong before she spent the month in Kansas. We were excited. We were nervous.

Ying Rong was picked up from the Denver Airport on a Tuesday evening. Joe and Melissa brought her back to our house where we were waiting impatiently. Melissa was holding her when I opened the door for them. She seemd so small, and scared, and tired. She looked around at all her potential new cousins with a vaguely overwhelmed look. Joey said to Declan and Brendan “Look! We brought a new sister!”

The next morning everyone had to pack up and head back to Kansas. Ying Rong seemed to have slept well, and she looked a lot perkier. We had breakfast and she played with all the other kids like she had always known them. She smiled and laughed, and it didn’t bother anyone that they didn’t know the same language. She definitely wasn’t fond of Bosco or Darcy (dogs), though!

All too soon it was time to say goodbye. Goodbyes are always hard, and it must have been very confusing to Ying Rong. As I hugged all the kids, Ying Rong included, I was struck by the fact that I already loved her. After they left, and I was feeling quite emotional, I called Tom and told him, “I already love her! I can’t wait until they come back next month.”

New Photos of Ying Rong

We've received some photos of Ying Rong when she was younger and more recently, photos of her with her friends at the orphanage (not posted for privacy). Several of the friends with whom she is photographed are also being adopted by parents in the United States.

When Joe travels to China to finalize the adoption, he will most likely visit Ying Rong's orphanage -  to take a tour, meet her caregivers, bring gifts to the children, and to give Ying Rong a chance to say goodbye. We are hoping that he might also receive baby photos or anything else the staff may have kept for her.

Thank you!

We have been blessed to receive a number of anonymous donations, and donations from friends and family and want to express our gratitude for your help. We would not be able to adopt Ying Rong without your support. Thank you for helping us, and for helping Ying Rong get to us. Please be assured of our prayers for you, and may God bless you for your love and generosity. 

To date, we have received donations totaling nearly $18,000.  

adopttogether.org/thedorans

ADOPTION & FAMILY UPDATE

Our home study has been completed and approved, & authenticated by the Chinese Consulate; this step nearly completes our dossier. We have applied to United States Immigration to be adoptive parents to Ying Rong and are awaiting their approval. Once we are approved, we have one more immigration application and then our dossier will be complete and sent off to China! Our adoption agency anticipates Joe could travel to China towards the end of July. We are hoping and praying that he will travel as soon as possible. I am expecting our fourth baby in August and would love to have Joe and Ying Rong home before our new baby arrives!

New Photo and Video of Ying Rong

Merry Christmas!

We were blessed to receive new photos and a written update from the orphanage right before Christmas. Ying Rong is doing very well and looks happy in all the photos.

December Photo Update

Preparing for Adoption Day

 We have been doing some required online training lately for the adoption.  This is a short movie about one ''adoption day'', the day the adoptive family actually takes the child into their family.  Although this is the day we have waited so long for, and such a happy day for us,  it may be the child's worst.  Imagine being put into the hands of strangers by the only people you know, being evicted from the only home you have known.  I hope that Ying Rong has a little easier time with the initial transition since we are in the unique position of having already spent time with her.
 Quite a bit of our training deals with the grief and loss that these children feel throughout their lives.  They miss there caretakers.  They miss their playmates, who they may have been living with for years.  They grieve the loss of their birth parents, who they never knew.  They become sad when they realize that they did not grow in their adoptive mom's tummy, and that they look nothing like their adoptive mom and dad.  They may sometimes doubt that they belong with their new family at all.  All of this sadness manifests itself in different ways and at different stages in their lives.  We hope that our love and the Holy Ghost will ease the sad and confusing times Ying Rong is bound to encounter.   Please pray that she adjusts well and always feels at home in our home.

Adoption Update

We are still working on our dossier and home study paperwork. We are about to submit 8 important documents to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for authentication, and we are very close to submitting all of our documents to the agency doing our home study. We have applied for one adoption grant and are waiting to hear if we will receive any funds. After our home study is approved we are free to apply for many other adoption grants; most granting organization require families to have an approved home study. We are looking forward to new photos and an update from the orphanage this month!

It has been a beautiful fall here in Kansas, with lots of sun and warm weather. We are preparing for winter and already looking forward to spring, because that is when we hope to be able to travel to China to get Ying Rong! There is so much to look forward to!

October Photos

Ying Rong and her good friend, who is also being adopted!

Ying Rong Received Our Care Package (New Photos!)

We sent a care package and letter to Ying Rong about three weeks ago. It arrived in China last week. The orphanage took photos and a video of her receiving her package. In our letter, we told Ying Rong that we are adopting her and that we will come for her as soon as we can. The orphanage sent us a message saying she is happy and misses us. I hope she is happy.We can't wait to see her again!!!!! Even though we haven't completed our home study or dossier, we've already started making unofficial travel plans :) 

Our Lady of China

The Blessed Virgin first appeared in Donglu, China in 1900. Donglu is a few hours drive from Beijing. It's been reported that Holy Mary has appeared in Donglu as recently as 1995.  The site of the apparition is over 1,000 miles from where Ying Rong has lived all her life -  

You can read more about this at:

http://indefenseofthecross.com/marian-apparitions/our-lady-of-china/

http://www.cardinalkungfoundation.org/pm/PMourladyofchina.php
 

Fundraising at the Fair

This past weekend our good friends set up a booth at our parish fair to raise money for Ying Rong. Many generous people from our parish contributed to our adoption fund and we are truly grateful.

Our friends made Ying Rings and bracelets, and small, handcrafted finger puppet dolls to sell, and for prizes. I enjoyed meeting new people and talking about Ying Rong as they visited the booth. All during the fair I was thinking how nice it will be next year to have Ying Rong with us - she will have so much fun playing games, bouncing in the jump house, riding the train, eating cotton candy and having her face painted. She will be welcomed by a wonderful and loving Catholic family community!

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.