A Daughter's Return Trip to China

Martha Osborne chronicles the journey:

Coming of Age...A China Adoptee Returns to the Land of Her Birth

Although China has been open to international adoption since the early 1990's, it wasn't until 1994/5 that the wave of adoptive parents first gathered gale-force as the door of adoption in China swung open farther and families lined up to parent the waiting children living in orphanages.

Like many adoptive parents, when the idea of international adoption first was being explored as an option to build our family, I had a very strong attraction to particular countries. Always fascinated with the history and cultures of Asia, and sharing that interest with my husband, we explored adoption from China and South Korea. Over the years our family has grown with the addition of children from both countries.

We adopted a toddler from China in 1996. Another toddler, this time from South Korea, in 1997. Then in 1998 we saw a photo of a wide-smiled 8-year-old on a waiting child list. There were two lines only to describe her, and no further information could be obtained:

"Wu Qin works hard. She has had open heart surgery."

That was it. Her entire information included a photo of a girl with two pony-tails, one enormous smile, and two lines of information. Of course we decided to adopt her immediately.

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