November is National Adoption Awareness month. This is a wonderful time to spread the word about children throughout the world who need loving families, and acknowledge adoption as one way to build a family.

Many Holt adoptive families have found a great way to raise awareness about adoption and help more children find families through the Holt Ambassadors program.

The Holt Ambassador Network is composed of people who share the Holt story and raise awareness in their communities about the urgent needs of homeless children around the world by: organizing fundraisers, speaking at churches, schools or civic groups; or volunteering at Holt events. One of these families is the Burns family…

Brad and Liza Burns are the proud parents of eight children, five of whom were adopted from China. When Brad and Liza adopted their first daughter, Faith, their eyes were opened to the great need for adoptive parents for children in China.

“After seeing the difficulties these children face, we felt called to look into adopting another child, and that’s how we got our second daughter, Hope.” says Brad. “Hope was five years old when we adopted her. She lived in a state run institution, and her room, which she shared with another child, was eight by five feet with a small bed on the cement floor and a Red Cross blanket. The workers do wonderful things with what they have and truly have a heart to help children, but the fact is, they just don’t have enough resources.”

Brad and Liza later adopted Grace and Joy, and most recently, Jewel, who was 14 years old at time of placement.

Brad and Liza shared their experience of adopting older children with 30 attendees in last month’s Holt Webinar titled “Adopting Older Children – Information for the Decision.” The Webinar attendees were prospective adoptive parents considering an older child through Holt’s Journey of Hope program.

The Burns family talked candidly about the grief process the children went through as they adjusted to their new lives in the United States. They shared how they helped their daughters adjust and become the resilient, happy, vibrant young ladies they are today. Read the rest of this entry »

The China Child of Promise program matches prospective adoptive parents with children who have minor and correctable needs ranging from: missing or extra digits, cleft lip/palate, club feet, and minor heart conditions.

The children in the program do not have life-long health or learning disabilities, and their ‘special need’ can often be corrected with surgery, if it hasn’t been corrected already.

Parents are able to decide which medical needs they feel are within their capacity to care for by filling out a minor/correctable conditions checklist.

Joining this program does not exclude you from the standard waiting process; it simply expands your options and gives you the chance to be matched with a child much quicker!

The following is a story about a little boy named Daniel, a China Child of Promise, who had a minor case of clubfeet. He just recently came home to his permanent family….learn more about Holt’s Child China of Promise program

by Michele Mazzio

Adoption was something that my husband and I talked about many years ago, particularly after we lost our son, Brendan, to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) in 2001. After a long grief process we started to explore and research domestic and international adoption. We discussed the programs and met with various people who had adopted internationally.

As a teenage girl I dreamed of having a little girl from China, and my husband was open to this, as well. After a little over a year of paperwork and wait time, we adopted our daughter, Emma from the Province of Guangdong in 2005. After so many years of empty hearts and arms we held our healthy 15-month old little girl. We were so excited and thrilled to have been blessed by this gift.

Emma is now an amazing 5-year-old girl who loves to hula-hoop, do gymnastics, play the piano and just enjoy life every day. As her pre-K teacher tells her: “You are the sunshine in my classroom.” She has certainly been my sunshine and warms my heart every day. Emma has taught us so much more about love and life and the importance of family. She has even taught me how to parent a child after the loss of another.

My husband and I decided that we wanted to take another journey back to China and adopt another little girl. We completed our paperwork and submitted our dossier to China in 2006. At the time we knew that the wait would be longer than before but not that the wait time would get extended each month that went by.

One day I was reading an article about Holt’s China Child of Promise Program and about little boys who need families too. When I think about adoption from China, I only naturally think about the little girls. I had never thought about adopting a boy from China. Read the rest of this entry »

Some foster parenting programs in China are in danger of closing

by John Aeby, Director of Communications, with Tony Nolan, special guest speaker at Winter Jam 2009 and dedicated advocate for Holt International. Tony recently adopted a daughter from China and visited Holt-supported foster care programs in that country.

“As I witnessed the love that Mrs. Lee, one of Holt’s devoted foster mothers, showed to the babies in her care,” said Tony Nolan recently, “I thought about how God has a great love for every child in need….”

Tony isn’t the first person to be overwhelmed by the devotion and sacrificial love of Holt foster parents. Their selfless love nurtures homeless children while Holt completes the adoption processing for permanent families. When that processing is done, the foster parents release these children to their new adoptive families. Despite the tears, emptiness and loss that foster parents may feel at the end of that process, most are willing to take in yet another child.

However, in China recently, some foster care programs are in jeopardy due to the tightening world economy. Many of these foster programs were initiated and developed by Holt: Holt’s expertise in this field provided the training for foster parents as well as social work and medical staff. In some cases Holt turned over the maintenance funding for these programs to other agencies, so that Holt could develop foster programs in other areas.

Now, some of those agencies are no longer able to continue their funding. But Holt cannot allow these children to be brought back into the orphanages. Holt is stepping out on faith to raise the necessary funds to keep these children with the only families they have known—their foster families.

“Without foster families like the Lees…” said Tony, “these children don’t stand a chance. With the help that [Holt donors] provide, foster parents can take such good care of the children. It truly is something to celebrate.”

“The caregivers and foster families are providing tremendous care, but they can’t do it on their own. We will do all that we can to help these children and to tell people to help.”

Donate to help keep children in China with their foster families…

A family is completed through the China Child of Promise program

by Kim Esser

My husband and I went to an informational meeting on adoption in our hometown in 2006. We have three wonderful kids but were open to adding to the family through adoption. After the meeting we immediately started in on the paperwork.

As the one-year anniversary of our log-in date approached we saw the wait time increase triple fold. What were we to do? Stay in the process? Drop out? Switch to special needs?

In the end, we decided to go the China Child of Promise route. My husband and I filled out a minor/correctable needs checklist and then compared our lists, deciding on needs that we thought we could handle. We filed the paperwork in late August 2008 and three weeks later we had our referral! She was a beautiful little girl, about to turn one that week, and she was missing some fingers on her left hand…that was it!

We immediately said, “Yes! This is our child!” and started the process to bring Seren SuPing home. It seemed like everything then took the long route but in reality we were on our way to China in February 2009 to bring home our girl!

Seren SuPing has added so much joy to our family,and we can’t imagine life without her. If you are a family trying to decide if the Child of Promise program is right for you, take that leap of faith. In reality, you are the ones in control because you decide what “special needs” you are open to. There was never any pressure from Holt, and they never tried to persuade us into needs that we weren’t open to.

Holt wants you to feel comfortable with what you decide upon and only wants what is best for the children. I look at our new daughter and can’t imagine not having her. She fits our family perfectly and has made us all appreciate what we have and what we do as a family.

Learn More about the China Child of Promise option…..

View the Minor/Correctable Conditions Checklist

Westley, a handsome, young man in Holt’s Waiting Child program,  will turn 14 in September, making him no longer eligible for international adoption.  He has grown up in foster care and has expressed his longing to go home to a loving, permanent family.

Because of the short time-frame to find this beautiful child a permanent home, Westley requires a family who has experience parenting older children and has paperwork ready to adopt from China.

Westley is a talkative young man who enjoys school and playing sports.  He has had initial surgery to repair cleft lip and palate.

Please join us in asking God for a permanent family for Westley.  If you would consider adopting him or know anyone who may be interested in adopting him, please contact Erin Mower.

*Name changed

Learn more about the Waiting Child Program.

A simple idea changes the life of a little girl

The Nolan family’s journey in China continues (see entry directly below) as they tour the Nanchang Social Center.  The following is Brian Campbell’s account of their experience.

by Brian Campbell, Holt Creative Productions Manager

The Nolans and I traveled to the Nanchang Social Center where Holt has several programs, including the baby care unit and foster care programs. When we arrived at the center Lisa Xu, a member of Holt’s China staff, had just started the tour when a little girl came darting by our feet. Lisa giggled as the energetic little girl leapt into a caregiver’s open arms.

“I have to tell you a story about this little girl”, said Lisa. “Qui* was born with no feet. As she got older and tried to walk, she experienced great pain unless she was on the padded mat or floor.”

As Lisa continued her story, the little girl began dashing about once again. The Nolans started to play with her and observed that she indeed had no feet at the end of her busy little legs.

“As Qui was getting ready to transition into Holt’s foster care program,” Lisa continued, “a caregiver decided to make Qui some little shoes. She made them out of a ball that she cut in half. The little cups have cloth straps that are strapped around her lower legs to keep the cups in place. Ever since Qui received her shoes, she has been so busy running around that she is difficult to catch up with sometimes.”

We watched Qui take small steps back and forth to manage her balance as she chatted to the Nolans and snacked on the candy they brought.

“Was this part of the caregiver’s responsibilities?” asked Tony.

“No.” Lisa replied. “The caregiver just had an idea of a way to make this little girl’s life easier and made these shoes in her off time.”

“I am amazed at how much passion Holt staff has for these children, and how they demonstrate that passion in little and big ways,” said Tony. “To have someone at Nanchang who would have the creativity, desire and motivation to do something above and beyond the call of duty is just awesome!”

Read more about the Nolan family’s trip to China on Tammy Nolan’s blog

Tony Nolan, special guest speaker at Winter Jam 2009 and dedicated advocate for Holt International’s work, is currently in China with his wife, Tammy, to receive the newest member of their family, Joy. On this trip, the Nolans visited a Holt-supported foster family in Nanchang.

The following post from Brian Campbell recounts Tony’s experience at the home, and how a foster mother’s devotion dramatically changed the life of a child in her care.

By Brian Campbell, Holt Creative Productions Manager

“This is one of the hottest days on record in Nanchang,” Lisa Xu, a social worker on Holt’s China staff, tells me. The Nolan family takes this in stride as we board the van to visit a foster home. We hike the flights of stairs to the 6th floor. Sweating and panting, we arrived at the modest apartment occupied by the Lee family. Tony brought his whole family and with the social workers and myself, it was difficult to squeeze the 12 of us into the foster family’s small (by U.S. standards) 2-room apartment.

The Lees care for two foster children: Ling and Ruo*. When Ling, who was about 2 months old at the time, came to live with the Lees, little was known about her medical history, outside of the normal medical exam she received when she was first admitted.

As Mrs. Lee interacted and played with the children, she noticed that Ling exhibited behaviors that didn’t seem normal. Mrs. Lee researched ailments with similar symptoms, and during Ling’s next check-up with a Nanchang social worker, she pointed out that Ling showed signs of hearing difficulties.

The social worker scheduled a hearing examination that later confirmed Mrs. Lee’s suspicion. Although it is difficult to know how severe Ling’s hearing loss will be, because of the attentive care and actions taken by Mrs. Lee, and her love and concern for this child, Ling will receive the treatment and attention she needs. Mrs. Lee will also be better equipped to care for her.

Tony was quite moved as he listened to this story and held Ruo.

“What can you say?” he starts. Read the rest of this entry »

Holt is trying to keep children in foster homes until they can be adopted

Loss of funding has put many children currently in foster homes at risk of returning to orphanages. Holt is committed to taking over the funding of these foster care programs in order to keep the children with their foster families until permanent families can be found. But we need donations to provide the food, supplies and program support to make this happen.

Jian Chen, Program Director for China is currently in China, and she sent this message about how loving care and support of stable foster families is so important in the lives of vulnerable children.

By Jian Chen

I can’t imagine what kind of trauma it would bring to a young child or a baby in China if they lost their foster family. Would they still trust us, or another human being if we let this happen?

For many of the children in China, especially children with special needs, their foster parents are the only stable, caring family they have known. It would break their hearts to be removed and taken to orphanages. I have heard of some children who have been moved from foster parents to orphanages and they cried and cried.

Recently I met a boy in a loving foster home named Hong Hong, who was yanked back to the orphanage for a brief time. When I visited the foster family with the orphanage director, Hong Hong saw us and started to scream at the top his lungs and looked panicked. Quickly he hid his face into his foster mother’s chest, kicking his feet into the air while the foster mother tried to hold him. The orphanage director explained to me: “He must think we’re here to take him back to orphanage.” The foster family is the only family that he has ever known.

A few weeks ago, I also visited Holt’s Meihekou project, where I was informed that Xiao Li, a young woman I have known for many years, took the college entrance examination and got very high score.  She lived with her foster mother who she called “Nai Nai”. I remembered the last time I visited there was 4 years ago, and her Nai Nai was 80 some years old. Nai Nai held my hand in tears, and told me she was getting older and her health condition was deteriorated. She was ready to give up everything in this world but still couldn’t let go of Xiao Li.

Xiao Li was still a freshmen in the high school at that time. Nai Nai said Xiao Li still needed help…She asked: “If anything happens to me, will Holt continue to support her?” When I said: “Of course we will”, she was very relieved. Nai Nai passed away two years ago, and Xiao Li continue to work very hard in school and got a very good score in the recent entrance examination. When we congratulated her, she started sobbing, she said: ” If it weren’t for my Nai Nai, I would have never been able to pass the examination and go to college. I think about her every day. She inspired me to work hard… I really miss her and want her know I did it.”

Foster homes are the only home to some of the children in China. If a child lives and grows in an institution, it is just like a tiger living in the zoo cage. It looks like a tiger and eats like a tiger but can’t function like a tiger because it can’t go back to live in the wild. But if a child lives with a foster family with love and care, she or he can attach to a permanent family and adjust to family life much better. The transition may be hard at first because of the love and security they have with foster family, but as they realize that they’re now with their permanent family, they will form a new bond based upon the trust they had with their foster family. Read the rest of this entry »

Holt’s staff in Beijing, China, have asked all of us to keep a little girl in our thoughts and prayers.

Chun Chun has a serious heart condition. We hoped that Holt could provide surgery, and had her transported to a specialist in a larger city. However, her condition has worsened, and doctors now fear that surgery or moving her again to more advanced care in Beijing would be too risky for her in her current physical condition. At this point Holt staff is trying to make sure she is staying as comfortable as possible in the arms of her foster mother.

An adoptive dad reflects on having two beautiful children

by: Terry R. Cassreino

With Father’s Day fast approaching, my children are on my mind more than usual. Our family is in the process of moving to southeast Louisiana after I accepted a job and began work there in May. Our children stayed home with my wife, helping prepare our house for sale and packing for the move.

Being a father came late for me, just like my marriage. Both have been a huge blessing. Pam and I met in 1997 when I was 36; we married in 1999. When it became obvious we weren’t going to have a child naturally, we chose to adopt, hooked up with Holt International and the rest, to use a trite phrase, is history. We brought our daughter, Camryn, home from China in 2006.

A few years later Camryn sat in my lap and begged me to talk about the upcoming China trip my wife and I were taking to bring home our second child, Matthew. Her excitement had been building for months, ever since Pam and I learned that we were matched with a little boy through Holt’s China Child of Promise program.

“Tell me about my baby brother,” Camryn said as she smiled and laughed. “Talk to me about Matthew. Is he going to be big? Is he still a baby? Can I play with him?”

Hearing Camryn’s excitement didn’t surprise me at all. We had been talking to her about Matthew for weeks to help her prepare for his arrival and ease the transition to having a second child as a member of our family.

Matthew has been home since December. For me, nothing is more touching than watching Camryn sit on the floor of her bedroom, open a book, point to the pictures and create a story for her brother as if she’s reading the words on the pages. Matthew usually sits quiet and attentive, listening to every word.

Our lives have seen the typical challenges of most parents: making sure our children eat right, trying to choose the right day care and treating the typical childhood illnesses and colds. We also do other things, such as ensuring Camryn and Matthew know and learn about their Chinese culture. And we are helping Matthew correct his clubfoot, which hasn’t been that much of a problem at all. Read the rest of this entry »