Family Page

Family Stories

If you would like to submit a story or picture, please send them to Siri Scott, slyke@carolinaadoption.org.  Please keep the stories or memories to a few paragraphs.

Andrew's First Christmas

"Happy Holidays CAS. Both Vera and Andrew are doing well. We have been so amazed at Andrew's English skills. We can actually hold conversations now, though there are still times when it is a guessing game. Vera is absolutely adorable, and EVERYONE who meets her falls in love with her. Andrew is in the same class as Benjamin, and we just got home from a Christmas performance that they were in. Andrew was Prancer and Benjamin was Donner. Vera charmed the woman sitting behind us, and she gave her a Santa broach she was wearing. Andrew still has his stubborn streak, but it is getting much better. Most people say that they cannot tell the difference between our biological kids and Vera and Andrew. I must admit that I think they are all beautiful!!! :-)

Christmas is going to be very special this year. In fact, Andrew is under the Christmas tree trying to re-wrap the Christmas gifts he bought at the school's "Santa's Shop" because he didn't understand that you open presents on Christmas Day AND the person to whom the present belongs actually does the opening. He came home and opened all the presents he had bought to show us what he had gotten us!!! :-) I know Andrew is looking forward to Santa's visit... he gave us a 4-page list (front and back) of presents he wants from Santa."

Moldovan orphans come home, a touching story about the McDaniel family.

Read more about the McDaniel family adoption journey...

McDaniel family, 2007 Holiday Picture

Holiday Pictures 2007

Carolina Adoption Services Greensboro Fall Picnic Pictures

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Carolina Adoption Services Raleigh Fall Picnic Pictures

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China - My Story

During our summer family vacation this year an unsuitable remark was made by our daughter's young cousin regarding China and her adoption. It was obvious that this sweet child was repeating something she had overheard and never realized that it could be hurtful. Our daughter was present when the remark was made, but being only three years old did not grasp the meaning behind the words. If she had been older we would have had a lot of damage control to deal with. We were completely unprepared for this and it hurt us. It was clear that we had to do something to prevent this from happening again in our family.

In an effort to help educate our family and let them know it was time we all got our facts straight, we purchased the book "When You Were Born in China" for each of them. I wrote the following poem to include with the book as a gentle and loving reminder to them that how they view her adoption story and share it with her will directly impact how she feels about herself as a person and as a member of our family and community.

This is a very personal family issue and I was hesitant to share it until I realized that sharing could possibly prevent it from happening in another family.

My Story

God whispered to her, "please leave her with me
I know that you love her, don't worry, you'll see,
Her Mama and Daddy will love her even more,
They will tell her some day that you loved her, I'm sure."
God whispered to Mama, "a child there will be"
Mama whispered to Daddy, "she's waiting for me!"
So they traveled to China with trust from the start,
And I was there waiting with hope in my heart.
God whispered to me, "a family there will be
A Mama and Daddy and a Brother, you'll see.
Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, and Cousins galore!
You'll only need wait just a few days more."
My story's not simple but God's plan is quite clear
When God found me waiting he brought me right here
To a family who would love me and show me the way,
To a life where His love would be with me each day.
I'm only beginning to understand
This story, which brought me from a faraway land.
I'm asking some questions about the details,
And sometimes it hurts hearing all these strange tales.
God whispered to you, "a role there will be
Especially for you, in her life, you will see.
She'll ask you to tell her this story some day,
She'll be counting on you to know what to say."
- Joann Denny

Pam Marsh - China - My Adoption Story

I remember when I was about 16 years old and found out that the chances of me ever getting pregnant were slim. The reality came true when I had to have a hysterectomy at 25. This was only two years after David and I got married. David knew when he asked me to marry him that children were probably not going to be a part of our lives.

Over the years we discussed adoption many times. There always seemed to be a reason why we decided against it. We now know God had a very special plan for us. It would involve mountains of paperwork and take us halfway around the world and back.

David first heard about these wonderful baby girls being adopted from China through a friend of ours at church. When he told me about it, my reaction was there was no way I was getting on an airplane and traveling to China! Fortunately, we went to an information meeting on China conducted by Carolina Adoption Services. After seeing photo albums of these beautiful girls we both knew this was exactly what we were suppose to do. After that first meeting I started writing in a journal to my daughter because I knew that someday she would want to know about everything we experienced to bring her home. I am now on my second journal and Sara is three years old.

To say that adopting a child is difficult is an understatement. It's extremely frustrating at times. It's hard to understand how to deal with two different countries to bring one small baby home. 

While we waited to travel to China to meet our daughter, I knew Sara was getting older and growing every day. We had to wait until both countries said we could travel. The day we received our airline tickets was the day I truly let myself realize we were going to be parents at last.

Our trip to China was set. Seven babies would return to the U.S. on that trip. David and I were so excited about meeting Sara. We received a photograph of her a few weeks earlier and it was hard to believe our lives would change completely in a matter of days. We ran on adrenaline the entire time we traveled...and on the good thoughts that we'd soon be with Sara.

I remember well arriving in Hong Kong, taking a taxi to the train station, waiting a long time for the train and finally boarding it to Guangzhou. After months of hearing about Dur and Helen, our facilitators, we met them at last. They became our life line in China. They took excellent care of us and our babies.

After a night of rest in Guangzhou, we boarded a plane to Hefei and checked into a hotel there. A short while later we were told our babies were already at the hotel. We were all so excited! Der asked us to go to our rooms and wait for our baby to be brought to us. After what seemed like an eternity, Der came to our door with Sara, her foster mother and a Chinese official. Sara was placed in my arms and she cried. She was beautiful! After months of preparation, finally I was holding in my arms the most precious gift in the world.

We checked to make certain she had all 10 fingers and toes and dressed her in clothes we brought with us. After signing some papers and thumb-printing a few, Sara was legally ours. We stayed in Hefei a few days then traveled back to Guangzhou where we stayed at the White Swan Hotel. It was a luxury for us all. Our final days in China were spent getting medical checkups for our babies, getting their visas in order and doing some sightseeing. The trip back home was long but I'll never forget the emotional moments David and I had when our plane landed in Greensboro. There were so many people there to greet us. Actually, they were there to welcome Sara home.

Sara was 9 1/2 months old when we brought her home. On June 19 we celebrated her 3rd birthday. Time has gone by fast. Every day she amazes me. She is bright, beautiful and loving; everything a parent could hope for! She is my heart.
I wrote this poem a few weeks before leaving on our trip to China:

To My Daughter
Will you really like me
or will you start to cry
when at last we meet
and I look into your eyes?
Will you feel the love
overflowing in my heart?
Will you know your new life
is just about to start?
Will you know the tears
I will shed for you
are the happiest tears of all,
tears for a dream come true?
You are my beautiful baby,
my life has been so blessed.
God has given me many gifts
but you, my daughter, are the best.

Angela Hubbard - Russia
Somewhere in Russia There was a Rainbow Waiting for Us

My husband and I adopted our first child from Krasnodar, Russia. Little Zachary was only 5 ½ months old when we first met him. If someone asked me 10 years ago if I could see myself traveling across the other side of the world for my child, I would have thought they were joking. However, life has a way of surprising you and making you feel complete when you least expect it. Thank goodness for little surprises!

My husband and I struggled with infertility for ten years. We had three miscarriages and the last one happened on Mother’s Day a month before Zachary was born. It was at this point in my life I questioned God’s will and wondered why these horrible things kept happening to us. I spent years praying for a child and felt so lost and alone. I remember crying on the phone and saying to my mother one day, “Mom, I sometimes feel as if God has turned a deaf ear to my prayers. I don’t understand why He hasn’t responded.” My husband tried to comfort me by saying that maybe God HAD answered our prayers. It just wasn’t the answer we were expecting. Sometimes, God says, “No.” I soon began to realize that our “situation” wasn’t about us. It was about a child somewhere in the world who needed a momma and daddy to love them --a child who deserved to be rocked to sleep at night and hear storybooks read to them. After several months of praying, research, and determination we contacted Carolina Adoption Services. We sent our application to them the day after Mother’s Day.

Months went by as we filled out page after page of paperwork, speaking to our social worker, proving ourselves to the INS, and decorating the nursery. The phone call came in November. As soon as I saw Carolina Adoptions on my caller I.D., I knew it was the phone call we had been anticipating. My heart raced and my hands quivered as I tried to “soak in” all the information I was hearing. We had a baby boy. A BABY BOY! Could this really be happening? We received a brief medical and a small referral picture that was later made into several 8x10’s, 5x7’s, and wallet size photos for anyone who wanted one. The phone was ringing off the hook that evening. The news spread clear from North Carolina to Michigan. Later that night, the reality of what was happening finally hit me. I stared at Zachary’s picture and began to worry. What if something was wrong? Could we handle this? Will this little boy love us? Will I be a good mother to him? I was a complete wreck. I cried and cried. The next morning, a pediatrician from Charlotte contacted us about Zachary’s medical information. He was so kind and had a way of calming my nerves. I’ll never forget him. We spoke for about a half hour and his final words to me on the phone were, “If this was my referral, I’d be very happy.” That’s all I needed to hear. I took a deep breath and began to relax a little bit. Maybe everything would be all right after all.

A funny thing happened after I hung up the phone with the doctor. It had been raining all afternoon and suddenly stopped the moment I hung up the phone. I went to put some paperwork away that had been lying on our kitchen table and glanced out of our bay window. I saw the most beautiful rainbow stretched over the top of our house. (This really did happen.) I asked my husband to take a picture of it for our baby’s life book. By the time he was able to locate the camera and load film into it, the rainbow vanished. I was quite disappointed.

Nine days later, we made our first trip to Russia. When we pulled into the driveway of the orphanage, I was astonished to see a huge rainbow painted on the side of the building. I gasped and said to my husband, “Steve, look at the beautiful rainbow!” He smiled back at me and said, “It looks like we’re in the right place”.

They brought Zachary to us as we nervously waited inside a small room full of baby cribs. I saw the children inside them and my heart broke. It’s at this point you realize how real it is. The caretaker brought Zachary into the room. He was small and dressed in clothes that were way too big for him. He stared at me with a blank look in his eyes and didn’t utter a sound. I whispered softly in his ear, “It’s all right. You’re going to be just fine.” I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. It had taken us 10 years to finally hold our son. I wept for him and I honestly felt as if God was standing right beside me saying, “Angie, I didn’t forget about you and I certainly didn’t forget about this child. You thought I hadn’t heard your prayers. I heard every single one. You want to know what my will has been for your life? You’re holding him in your arms.” God sent us a rainbow from Russia. How very blessed and fortunate we are.

When passing strangers innocently compliment us for “saving that little boy,” I try to gently remind them that Zachary saved us. Without this child, we wouldn’t be parents. His adoption was not done out of pity or charity. Adoption just provided the means of bringing our son home to us. God took two unfortunate situations and made something good out of them. He made us a family! Our son is now 21 months old and the light of our lives! I guess God knew what he was doing all along.

The Racine Family - Guatemala - OUR ADOPTION STORY

Let me start out by saying how very much we love our son, Ivan, whom we adopted from Guatemala. We could not have asked for a better child or a better experience.

Now let me back up a few steps. We are Marc and Kim Racine and we have 3 children: Hunter, Megan and Ivan. Hunter, 9, is Kim’s son from a previous marriage. Megan, 3, is our natural child. Ivan, 7 mo., is our adopted child. We had very rough pregnancies with both Hunter and Megan. (I was on bed-rest both times…in the hospital for a month with Hunter and at home for 4 months with Megan.) So we decided after Megan was born that, if we had any more children, they would be adopted.

We talked about more children a lot the next couple of years and decided to go for it in January. We networked through lots of people and we surfed the web a lot to educate ourselves on the process. We finally decided on international adoption (specifically, Guatemala) through Carolina Adoption Services in Greensboro. We are an hour and a half outside of Greensboro, but I was so impressed with their references (YES, check lots of references with whatever agency you use) and was very impressed with their Guatemalan coordinator, Carl Hocke. (YES, speak with the person who will be actually handling your case. He/she may be very different than whoever answers the phone at the agency. It is important that you work well with this person since they will be your only connection to your child for a long time.)

Our first step after deciding on the agency was to complete an agency application form. Then we began the homestudy process. Thanks to Carl (you will hear me sing his praises a lot), we simultaneously submitted our I-600 and fees to the INS to get that ball rolling. We did all of this in early March. By May 31 our homestudy was complete and had been submitted to the INS. The homestudy process takes a while since the case worker has to visit your home 3 times and then write up the homestudy for your approval. Do not panic. Our case worker was wonderful and not at all interested in snooping around our house!

While the homestudy was in the works, we did our fingerprinting and started collecting documents for our dossier. Do this as soon as you can so you don’t waste any time. It also helps keep you busy during the waiting period so the time goes by faster! By early June, our completed dossier was in Guatemala and we were in wait mode.

This waiting period was definitely the hardest part of the entire process. We received our referral for Ivan in late July. (He was born June 1.) Carl called us on the phone as soon as he received the referral, and then mailed us the package which we received 4 days later (we got the referral on a Friday). The referral included several 4x6 glossy photos which are adorable! It also included a black/white copy of his birth mother’s national id card which has a picture of her and very little information about her. There was no information about Ivan’s birth father.

After accepting his referral, we entered the second hardest part of the process: the ETERNAL waiting period between the referral and travel. We sent a package with a small blanket and several disposable cameras (some of which we ear-marked for the foster mother) to Guatemala through the agency. Then, beginning August 2, we received medical updates through Carl each month. They were religiously 4 weeks apart and included a written report from Dr. Montiel (Ivan’s pediatrician in Guatemala) and digital photos (3-4 each month) which are invaluable. Needless to say, we checked our e-mail every 5 minutes or so on days that the medical update was due! J

Then, imagine our surprise when we received a LETTER with a PICTURE of Ivan from his foster mother!!!!! It was in Spanish, but it didn’t take long to find a translator to help us bridge the language gap. From that point, we traded mail with her about once a month until we traveled. I thought it was so very thoughtful of her to take the time to write us when she had her hands full with babies in her home! (I don’t know how typical it is to have a foster mother who writes to you…we were very fortunate.)

Poor Carl got lots of calls from us in August, September and October. I had the hardest time sleeping and found myself up at all hours of the night e-mailing him with crazy questions about Ivan and our upcoming travel. Carl was so understanding and seemed to be used to this crazy behavior from other parents!

We didn’t get a lot of information about exactly where we were in the court process in Guatemala (simply because our attorney didn’t tell Carl much, I think) until we received a phone call in early October from Carl. We were in PGN (Guatemalan Attorney General’s office) and he thought we might be traveling in a month! So we went ahead and bought our tickets through Federal Travel in Florida (see Carl’s travel packet), made plans for the kids to stay with grandparents, and started preparing for our trip. We also got hepatitis A shots from our family doctor. Carl’s advice and his travel guide were invaluable through this entire period. READ the travel guide, especially the list about what to take with you. We also talked to Sandra Pickens (the creator of guatamigos.com) who gave us a wonderful document telling us the ABCs of Guatemala from the airport to the Radisson and the pharmacy next door. I highly recommend that you also read this document…she is planning to put it on this website somewhere. We were in Guatemala Saturday, November 9, had Ivan by Monday the 11th and came home on Thursday the 14th.

Things we would do the same:


• Travel the country as much as possible before receiving your child (Carl begged us to do so; we were hesitant, but finally went to Antigua and had a blast! It was like our honeymoon we never had!) We stayed at the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo in Antigua. The food there was excellent and the view was spectacular!

• Stay at the Radisson in Guatemala City. Ask for a crib when you first get there or you might not get one. It’s not fancy, but the folks working there speak English and are VERY accommodating towards adopting families. They know the routine and are there to help you.

• Eat the local food. It was wonderful. We ate everything from salads to fruits and vegetables. I had a slightly upset system for a couple of days when we returned, but it was well worth it.
  
• Take a water filter. We pumped our own water so we could drink as much as we liked and know that it was safe.
  
• Take liquid soap and a bottle/nipple brush for washing bottles. (Our room did not have a microwave.)
  
• Do not bother taking formula or baby cereal. The foster mother brought us a can/box of each. We took these to the local pharmacy (across the street at 2 o’clock from the Radisson) and bought several containers of each to bring home with us. The formula, even though labeled the same, was enough different from what we bought at home that it helped to have some of each to ease him into it.

• DO take Gerber (or comparable brand) hard plastic bottles with nipples. It seems to be what they use down there. They had these at the pharmacy, but it would have been nice to have had them before we got there so we could have sterilized them. (The local brand bottle that we bought in Guatemala shattered when we dropped it at the airport.) Also bring baby spoons (ditto).
  
• Learn as much Spanish as you can before you go. Take a Spanish dictionary, a phrase book and your lesson book with you. It will give you enough to get by when you’re in a restaurant or shopping. All the people we ran into were very willing to speak slowly and be patient with our limited Spanish.
  
• Take a gift to your child’s pediatrician and deliver it personally while you’re there. He really appreciated this. (Carl’s suggestion.)
  
• Take gifts to the foster mother. If you’re going to give money to anyone, this is the person to give it to. She was very appreciative.
  
• Be sure to make a color copy of your child’s visa before you leave. They will take the original from you in customs when you re-enter the US.
  
• Bring an umbrella stroller and a snuggly carrier.

Things we would do differently:

• Do not worry!! The country is absolutely beautiful and the people are all incredibly nice. Just read the travel guide and use your common sense and you’ll be fine.

• Forget the shuttle bus to Antigua. We never were able to find it. We just took a taxi. The rates were very reasonable and the drive was nice.

• Request a room in Antigua that is not on the street side of the hotel. Our room was right by the entrance gate and it was SO noisy!
• Spend more time in Antigua and anywhere else you have time to visit.

Get plenty of sleep before you go, because you probably won’t sleep well once you have your child! Ivan was amazing, as I think most of the babies there are. He never even cried when the foster mother left. He took to my husband immediately. He liked me, too, but he really loved my husband. (He bonded more with me when we got home.) The only trouble he had was with sleeping. He did not like the playpen the Radisson brought to the room, so he slept in the bed with us. The second night, he woke up each hour for about ten minutes and would cry a lot, then pass out. This went on from about 9pm to 2am at which time he finally took a bottle and went to sleep until morning. It was his only sign of frustration with us. After that point, he was fine.

We had a lot of fun walking around Guatemala City with him and trying different restaurants. It was really nice to have him alone (our other children did not travel with us) for a few days in Guatemala so that we could get used to each other and figure out his likes/dislikes before we left for home. The day at the Embassy was hellish, but it was only for a few hours. A small price to pay for a huge bundle of joy!

Did I mention how pleased we are with Ivan and with how smoothly the entire process flowed? I credit Carl Hocke with this success and highly recommend using him for your Guatemalan adoption. I’m sure there will be lots of questions you will have after reading through everything on this website. If you have any questions about our story or would like to ask any questions about our adoption, please e-mail us at racine@nc.rr.com. Good luck to you and God Bless!

- Kim and Marc