Our story shows the hand of God at work in our
lives. We chose to pursue an international adoption after a few years
of waiting and exploring domestic adoptions. We chose China. Our plan
was to complete one adoption, and then we would be open to a second
adoption. As things go, our way is not always God's way!
Our paperwork went to China in November of 1997,
the same month Pat's new job took to a new city away from all our family
and friends. In January, once the house was unpacked and we were sort
of settled, Mary started back to work part-time. A few weeks later,
in February, we were contacted by our agency representative. She told
us of three baby girls in Kazakhstan who needed families. We were contacted
because we were essentially "paper ready". She said they needed homes
immediately (if not sooner!) and were asked if we interested? The babies
needed parents before they were 30 days old; otherwise according to
then current Kazak laws, they would be placed in an orphanage. We quickly
agreed!
We allowed our INS approval (I-171H) to remain
in China since that dossier was processing through the Chinese government.
Hastily, we arranged another I 171H from INS, using all our initial
paperwork, for the US Embassy in Moscow. We used the same documents
that we had already collected for China and had them certified through
Tallahassee. Laura Morrison's courier service hand walked those same
certified documents through the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington. Within
a couple weeks we were ready to travel. Now all we needed was the letter
of invitation and our Visa's to be on our way! We were on cloud nine!
Our travel was set for Friday, March 20, 1998. Since everything was
moving so quickly, our family and planned to have a baby shower for
us while we were gone. The shower was set for Sunday.
Four days before we were scheduled to leave, we
received a phone call telling us the child that we were to adopt developed
a "heart problem" and was transferred immediately to the orphanage.
Case closed! We were not given an option to accept this child even with
her medical condition. We were told the next child would be ours wait
a minute we thought. We didn't even know where Kazakhstan was a few
weeks ago. Here we are ready to leave and get our daughter in four days!
Take it from us -- you don't need a photograph to bond to a child. We
were devastated. Despite it all, we felt we should attend the baby shower
being held for us out of town. It was difficult to say the least, but
was just the thing we needed; to be near family and friends. We arrived
back in Clearwater on Sunday.
On the following Tuesday (the 24th) we received
a phone call with the wonderful news about Catherine! We were so excited!
We traveled from Tampa on the 27th, just one week later than originally
scheduled. We had been told before we left Florida that Catherine was
born on March 23rd. To our surprise Catherine was born one day earlier
- the same day as the baby shower! Our three-year old niece turned out
to be truly prophetic as she continuously sang "Happy Birthday Cafrin
Ann". We arrived in Almaty on Sunday. Tuesday, we met with the attorney
and her staff. We did some paperwork and were told the other couple
would be arriving soon. They would travel with us to adopt their daughter.
The uncertainty of the adoption process was stressful. But knowing we
would be leaving with our daughter sustained us.
We traveled to the adoptive city the next day
and arrived at 9 p.m., much later than planned due to weather and other
flight delays. After a trek through a darkened staircase, we were united
with our sweet Catherine! She was so tiny and so beautiful! She looked
so peaceful in her Mommy and Daddy's arms. The head doctor and pediatrician
prepared a wonderful dinner from seemingly no where. We toasted each
other, our countries and thanked God for the wonderful blessings we
received. We were up bright and early the next morning, then completed
the final paperwork that brought Catherine Ann into the Reilly family
forever! We were again allowed to see her at that time, then we had
a celebratory lunch in the Chief Doctor's office. Afterward we left
for the airport with the babies. We were headed back to Almaty to await
Catherine's passport. We arrived at the airport to meet our 1:00 PM
flight.
Since we hadn't had any luck with planes being
on time, why would we expect this to be any different? We finally boarded
six and a half hours late. Our little family arrived back at the apartment
in Almaty about 11:30 PM. Being exhausted --and first time parents --
we were hoping for a good night's sleep. Right! Catherine would hear
nothing of US sleeping! We really didn't mind; she was so little and
so precious and best of all OURS! Her first little bed was our carry-on
suitcase. She fit perfectly. We gazed at her for hours as she slept.
Back in Almaty, life as a family began. We didn't have any of the routine
distractions of home so the bonding we had was marvelous! Easter Sunday
was the following week so we went to our first Easter Mass as a family.
We truly had much to be thankful for!
One of the weekends, the attorney, her sister
and her family treated us to a trip to Madeo (a mountain) and then to
an amusement park. The long-awaited day finally arrived to go home!
We arrived at the Moscow airport by 9AM. This time, our plane didn't
take off until 6:30 that night. Needless to say, we missed all the connecting
flights in NYC so off to a hotel we went. Getting settled in by 1:00
AM, we had to be in the lobby by 5:00 AM for our flight to Tampa, via
Atlanta. We had a wonderful surprise in Atlanta. Mary's brother, his
wife & four young children were there to greet us during our 60-minute
layover! It was wonderful to see family. We didn't expect to see them
as they lived over 90 minutes away. We finally boarded our last leg
of the trip home.
There is merit in keeping an extra change of shirts
(for mom & dad) in the diaper bag. You guessed it. We didn't know Catherine
could hold that much in her little tummy! Mary was soaked & smelly until
she arrived home. And now for the rest of the story. Remember we still
had our original adoption packet processing in China all this time.
We now faced the final decision of following through with the Chinese
adoption. Of course it was an easy decision! It's always easy when you
don't think too hard about what life might REALLY be like!
We expected our referral to come in September
or October, giving us a chance to sort of pull things together. On July
14th - The stork arrived!!! OH MY GOSH!!! We were on our way to China
on August 28th,1998. We missed Catherine terribly but knew she was safe
& happy with Pat's family. Mary's sister, Kathleen, brought her home.
Thanks to Aunt Kathleen, Catherine met us at the airport, Saturday,
Sept 5th when we arrived with her new sister, Anna Marie. What a joyful
reunion! Catherine was only 5 ½ months old, but she knew her MOM & DAD!!!
As Pat held Catherine up in the air, he didn't even seem to notice (or
care) that she had drooled all over his face! He was thrilled just to
hold her again!
It was also awesome knowing that both Anna and
Catherine were instantly forever sisters. Mary's sister still laughs
when she recalls putting Catherine into her car seat at the airport,
Mary climbing in, and then putting Anna in her car seat! She was amazed
to see Mary between TWO babies! There was a world of difference between
the two adoptions and babies. Catherine was 11 days old when she joined
our family, Anna was 11 ½ months old and had been in an orphanage. Anna
displayed many of the typical behaviors of institutionalized children.
She did not make eye contact with us, would not look at us when we tried
to feed her, and pushed us away when we tried to comfort her. It took
us months to get her to let us just hold her and rub her back.
Remember, we said our plan was to complete one
adoption, then we would be "open " to a second one; and that we know
our way is not always God's way. As time passed, Anna would study Catherine
and her interactions with us. She watched how Catherine looked at us
and reached for our faces when we fed her. She watched us play with
Catherine and observed how we related to each other. Slowly Anna began
to mimic Catherine. Gradually Anna began to interact with us, trust
us and bond with us. In her own way, Catherine let Anna know everything
was "OK".
We now believe we know why Catherine arrived first.
She taught Anna how to interact with us, making a smooth transition
for her sister into the family. This is something we could have never
anticipated or planned for! Today, our daughters are doing wonderfully
and bring much joy to our lives. For both of our girls" we are truly
grateful and thankful to everyone who helped us adopt our children,
and most especially, to our Almighty God! ………………………. And now you know
the rest of the story!
