Amazing Connection

Keith and I have been attending classes for our upcoming adoption and one of the many things we have been discussing is Loss, as it relates to adoption. One of the things that we have come to realize is that adoptees do carry with them a sense of loss - a loss of their home country and culture, a loss of history (birth parents, extended family, etc.). There are questions surrounding Maddie and our future daughters history that we will never be able to answer. But sometimes where we put a period, GOD puts a comma. So here is our latest amazing news.

Recently I received an email from our adoption agency asking if we would be ok with disclosing our contact information to another family that adopted another child from her same orphanage, and of course we were. It turns out that this little boy was Maddie's best friend in the orphanage. A family from the Netherlands adopted him a few days before we adopted Maddie. Upon their adoption they had asked the orphanage if their son had any friends and was told that it was Qin Qiu Ying. They had made several attempts after arriving home to find where Qin Qiu Ying was. It was only recently, when the Orphanage received our post placement report, that the Orphanage responded to their request and long story short; we connected!


This little boy was at Hope Haven along with Maddie until his adoption. After exchanging photos with his family we discovered that he was the same little boy that was in the many photos that the orphanage provided us in her memory book. To the family's surprise Qin Qiu Ying (Maddie) was actually a GIRL. They had thought all this time she was a boy based on the pictures of the two of them they had. We both got a great laugh from this.


Although it is not a biological family member, it is a connection to Maddie's past, someone she actually spent time with during her first two years and something that I treasure (for her). It is amazing how she again has increased our territory. We hope to stay connected with this family and maybe one day connect in person.


What a blessing!!!