Our China Adoption Trip
July 15, 99 - Aug. 10, 99

 

Reflections
	The following is my recollection of our families trip to China to Adopt our 4th child Grace Yu Ling Altobelli. It has take some time to get around to publishing this.    I apologize to all our family and Friends who have waited so long for an account of our odyssey.    I apologize to all others who will view this as an electronic version of the dreaded 'Family Vacation - to - Toledo slide shows'.    But it is a big Web if this is tedious to you then find some more interesting content.   Hope you enjoy this we sure did; well not the entire time.
Perhaps, you can learn from our experience and gain some encouragement if you are considering an adoption. I would love to hear about your experience.   I will include comments from other family members as they are expressed.

 

Background

Our intention was to adopt an infant. But, since we already had 3 children the Chinese authorities required that we consider a special needs child or a child of 1 to 3 years old.   In the spring of 1997 we started the process. Kathryn and I trusted that God would not let us succeed, if this was not His will. We needed several thousand dollars over the course of this process. One morning, Before I left for work (I worked for Dell Computer company) we prayed that God would confirm this course by providing the money that we needed for the adoption. That morning my boss, David Johnston, awarded me several hundred shares of Dell stock options.   We submitted our paperwork in August 1999 just in time to beat new more restrictive requirements from the Chinese government.    December 1999 our agencies news letter featured 4 'Waiting' children. We fell in love with Mu Ying the oldest of the children.