There’s something in the eyes of the children on the waiting list that touches your heart.

Our family planned to start our adoption journey in January 2001. But due to the faces of those precious children, we jumpstarted our process and applied to WACAP in November 2000. Like many, I started by searching the various agencies. When I saw WACAP’s waiting child list, my heart broke. There were just too many children! From the beginning, we were interested in waiting children. Every couple of weeks, I’d look through the book. To some, this would be torture. For me, it was helpful to see that children were finding homes. Each time, there was a new “family found” stamp in the book—and, of course, there were also new faces.

Our homestudy was approved in February. That phone call is so exciting. It’s like the plus sign on a pregnancy test! The hardest part was picking a country. We had our choices down to two, India or Korea, because they had the escort service available and we wouldn’t have to travel to pick up our child. Since my husband ISN’T a world traveler, this helped our family. In the end, we chose Korea for three reasons: first, the Asian population and culture available in our area; second, Korea has more background and medical information on each child than do some other countries; and third—and most important—in Korea, the children waiting for adoptive families live in foster homes.

In the end of May were told of two new children on the Korean waiting list. We were considering a little 9-month-old girl diagnosed as floppy, “too flexible,” and who needed physical therapy. Then we were told of two new children placed on the Korean waiting/special needs lists. One was a 6-day-old boy who needed minor surgery. The other was a 3-month-old little girl born 10 weeks premature and weighing only three and a half pounds at birth. This was difficult. In February, we were told we’d be matched in August at the EARLIEST. Now there were THREE files sitting in our lap. I felt I’d be like an “evil” stepmother if I picked just one. So, I took all three files to our pediatrician and discussed the future care of these babies.

What really drew me to KaHee, the preemie, was the information about her birthmother. I wanted enough information and the sort of information that I could warmly tell my child about later. With all this information, our minds were racing and we discussed the children nonstop for two days. Then on Monday morning I called WACAP to let them know we desired to move ahead with KaHee, the premature baby.

WACAP called us on June 7 to say that she was our baby and because she had special needs, Korea speeded up the paperwork. And there was a slight fee reduction!!!!! Both were unexpected but wonderful news. They estimated that she’d arrive between August 13 and 21! The first few days after that phone conversation we were both a little stunned. In February we were told not to expect to be matched until August and now we were expecting a baby in August.

For many people, this is the hard part—waiting for your child’s arrival. For us it was a pleasant time. This is when we finally knew WHAT and WHEN we were expecting. The hardest part for me was the waiting time for a match. Because we were open to the age of the child and either gender, we had no idea what size of clothes we’d need, or whether a crib or a toddler bed, so this was the hard part for me. Once we were matched, we got busy on her room, toys, clothes and all the fun stuff expectant parents do. This was also when we started to tell people we were “due” in August. It was a great and FAST two-months’ wait.

I did some research and asked what to expect with a low birth weight child. Our pediatrician gave us a good prognosis. From the medical information, we knew that she was about a month delayed in her motor skills and about two months behind in size. But, because she was progressing and growing and eating all on her own, we had many positive signs.

 Then on August 1, we were told that she was due in Seattle on August 9, at 10:50 a.m. Our hearts melted at first contact. She fell asleep in my arms as we were taking our last photos with the escort. She woke up smiling in the car! Yes, smiling! She didn’t ever seem to notice that we were complete strangers. There was about a week of “mourning” we believe. It was a rough week where she would be sleeping and CRYING—screaming, tears and all—BUT SLEEPING! We would try everything to wake her—bouncing, rocking, music, clapping, but nothing. Then, finally she opened her eyes and saw us. We’d smile and hug and sing to her and she’d smile back at us and fall asleep.

At her first doctor’s visit she weighed 13 pounds 8 ounces and was 25 inches long. That was right on target for her adjusted age (the age she’d be if she’d been born on time). Her strength was on target for her actual age, and ahead a little for her size. Our friends were all surprised at her strength. Her coordination is still a little delayed. She’s now 8 months and still not sitting by herself for more than few minutes before falling, but she’s got the rolling down pat. Her coordination has noticeably improved in just the two and a half months she’s been home. At our second doctor’s visit, he said she’s growing wonderfully!

She hasn’t been home for long, so our story isn’t much longer, but she’s already responding to her new name Kelsey. KaHee is her middle name. It means beautiful brilliance. Looking at her smile, it was a wise choice. Just as this path that has created our family has been a wise choice. Even looking back at some of the difficult times, we remember that when we went with prayer and our “gut,” we were led to a WONDERFUL little girl who steals your heart with one smile. And she has LOTS of smiles!