Final Appointment - consolate!

A

Our all-American girl will be a U.S.

citizen as soon as we land in America.

Aug. 31, 2010


Today we started out by going to the zoo in Guangzhou. It was an interesting zoo (lots of animals), but the conditions were rather depressing. The animals were in very small enclosures and had very little room to move around. Also, many animals seemed very thin. I guess the upside was watching Madison -- she loved seeing all of animals. I now know what everyone was telling me about the HEAT! This was really the first day we have experienced extreme heat. We have discovered that Madison is very hot natured (like her daddy and brother, Taylor).  

This afternoon we went to the U.S. Consulate. We completed our paperwork and did the swearing in ceremony. While she is still a Chinese citizen, as soon as she lands on U.S. soil, she will be a U.S. citizen. The lady that runs the adoption program for the consulate came out to speak to us about the importance of adoption and the changes she has seen over the last few years. Approximately three years ago, only 7 percent of the adoptees were boys.  Now, the number has dramatically increased.  The reason for the increase is the dramatic rise in special needs adoptions.

Ready for the zoo.

The majority of adoptions going through now are special needs. Of the 10 families we were with today at the swearing in ceremony, I believe all but 1 was special needs. The children's special needs can range from premature/low birth weight, cleft lip and/or palate, heart issues, etc. While many have issues that will have to be dealt with when they return home, many others have already had surgery or will just need to be monitored. Then there are cases like Madison's where we thought we were adopting a child with a moderate to severe hearing loss. As far as we can tell, her hearing seems fine. Of course, we will let the audiologist make the final call on this, but even if she has a minor hearing loss - we will adjust and deal with it and make sure she gets whatever she needs to help her. 

This may be my last post from China. Tomorrow night we leave our hotel to catch our flight to Hong Kong. Our flight does not leave until 10:40 p.m., so we will arrive at our hotel in Hong Kong after midnight. Then our flight for the U.S. leaves the next day around noon. We are all so ready to be home. This experience has certainly been like no other, and we will miss certain aspects of China. However, we want to be with our ENTIRE family and in our home, with our normal routine (well, at least normal for us). If I don't get to blog before then, watch for coming home pics.

Checking out the alligator.