Andy and I adopted our daughter, Abby, from Fuling in December 2005. We had a wonderful experience in China and knew that we would adopt another child. We knew that we did not want an only child and we wanted our children to share the same culture and heritage. We decided to adopt our second child from the special needs program. We felt we could emotionally, financially, and medically care for a child with special needs.
We began. Karla called for what I thought was a routine check in. She asked me if I was sitting down and proceeded to tell me that there was a little girl in Xining, China waiting for us. Andy and I reviewed the photos and information. Lin Jia Yuan was beautiful and her special need was she was missing the tips of two fingers on her left hand. Our only concern was that she was only four months younger than Abby. After discussing the pros and cons of having 2 two year olds, we accepted. We could not believe that there were no medical or surgical needs and how fast our referral came. The rest of our paperwork was a blur and we began preparing Abby for having a sister.

We decided on the name Sophie JiaYuan for our second daughter.
Sophie was in foster care. We received several updated photos and measurements during our wait. Our log in date was April 5, 2007 and we left for China on August 30. We were able to see the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen square and the Olympic Stadium. We were again reminded of China’s beauty and rich history and tradition.
We traveled from Beijing to Xining and got Sophie the next morning. She was beautiful and strong. Within a couple of hours, she was laughing and playing with us. She was also completely potty trained and had full conversations with Uncle Zhou. She ate anything she was given and loved exploring new toys.
We were able to meet Sophie’s foster mom and visit her orphanage. It was obvious that Sophie was loved. She was able to speak to her foster dad and brother on the phone. We had sent a care package to Sophie’s foster mom and she returned the camera full of photos of Sophie with her foster family. Her foster mom was an amazing woman. The orphanage was bright and colorful and the children were all smiling and happy. They had rehab rooms and a teacher from the United States. We were able to see Sophie’s bed and meet her roommates. We were greatly impressed! Our second trip to China was amazing and we were able to spend time with Uncle Zhou. He once again kept everything running smoothly and loved spending time with the girls.
Sophie has grown in leaps and bounds since we have returned home. Abby and Sophie are in the same preschool class and are definitely sisters. They love playing Barbie together and our house is filled with laughter and little girl squeals. They have become the best of friends and there is never a dull moment in our house. Sophie is the perfect fit to our family and we are truly blessed to have both our daughters!