Taiwan Adoption Birth Story

Our birth story is a bit different than the traditional one. We chose the alternate route of private adoption in a foreign country. In August, we decided we were ready to receive a bundle of joy-the wait was on. With Taiwan having a birth rate of .7%, we were told the wait could be lengthy. October, two months later, everything changed in the blink of an eye. We received a phone call and literally within 2 hours were walking out of a clinic with our 1 day old newborn. Three months later, we were blessed again with our second daughter, who also came home at one day old. Almost overnight, we went from a family of 2 to a family of 4 with little more than a 2 hour notice.

With this type of adoption, the babies are brought home and then we wait and wait and wait. For our eldest, 7 months passed before the adoption was finalized. Our youngest, took 4 months. During this period of waiting we knew that at any point, the birth families could request the babies back. We were lucky and here’s the final notice announcing the finality of the adoptions signed the day before private adoptions were no longer allowed in Taiwan.

Our story is not quite finished. It has been one year later and we are going through the re-adoption process in the States as well as trying to obtain citizenship. With adoptions often there is a long drawn out process that is not only expensive, but also heart wrenching. The wait is excruciating at times-filled with extreme joys as well as extreme lows and disappointments. Following baby blogs adds to the excitement and also inadvertently puts the focus firmly on the adoptive mother’s lack of “bump.” I personally struggled with this as I watched several friends’ bumps grow over time. The excitement they had and the definitive due date that seemed to be edging closer and closer added to the awareness that wasn’t going to be part of my family’s story. The guilt sets in as you are excited for their experience, and yet a bit sad that you weren’t going to have that experience.

Adoption was a choice for us and one that I would make a million times over. But, you can’t always control your feelings even if you were the one making the decision to do things a bit differently. However one thing that has held true for me is that once that baby is placed into your arms anything before no longer matters. In the end, it’s all the same. We all have a precious wee one to look after, to wake up with and feed in the middle of the night, to share in the first smile, the first steps and (we’re still waiting) the first words. Birth is a beautiful thing simply because a lovely angel is the end result-adoption doesn’t change that.

This month is National Adoption Awareness Month and as a family we have decided to keep our own blog, Taichung Teachers, to honor the blessing of adoption. We hope everyone can take time out of their day to think about those families who are waiting to become complete and those families who have added a new member through adoption. As an adoptive mother, my birth story is different but it is still memorable, exciting and beautiful.

Krista
Taichungteachers.blogspot.com

**NOTE: Krista sent her story in November which was National Adoption Awareness Month.

click here for info on how to submit your birth story.