Made in China, growing up in America

Made in China, growing up in America

China was where the babies were. So five Cleveland-area couples, eager to add to their families, traveled across the globe to adopt abandoned babies who would grow up with a dual Chinese-Jewish heritage. Part of a wave of over 50,000 Chinese babies adopted by Americans since 1993, these children, now entering adolescence, are finding their place in school, in synagogue, and in the larger community.

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Local Story

Wells learn adoption process while adding a new member to their family: Adopting a child from any country is difficult but it is something the Wells family is tackling with great pride and large smiles. Andy and Angie Wells have two sons, six-year-old Jack and two-year-old Jude, but have decided to diversify and adopt a child from China to make their family complete.

Local Story

Pair adopts child as an act of faith: Hong Zi Hua had a ready smile and got along well with others, according to records his foster parents kept, and he loved to imitate singers he saw on television by rolling up paper like a microphone and singing into it. They described him as "a lovely, naughty little boy."

Love Without Boundaries

Edmond group sends 'love' to China: A group of Edmond families are helping Chinese orphans become eligible for adoption while enriching their lives in China. Love Without Boundaries is an Edmond nonprofit providing medical assistance, foster care, education and nutrition to orphans living in China, said Nancy Delpha of Edmond, director of operations.

Local Story

Coming full circle: She was found by a gate to the entrance of a police station. Abandoned by her parents, the baby girl wound up in a nearby orphanage. And there she might have remained if Kristin Pauly, a then-51-year-old single woman, hadn't traveled more than 8,000 miles to Changzhou, China, to adopt her.

Local Story

Bringing Emma home: For two and a half years, David and Dena Dwyer, of Tualatin, had worked, dreamed and prayed with one goal in mind — to adopt a baby from China. So when the day came on May 14 for them to meet 20-month-old Emma, who was born in Chongquing, China, they were excited.

Returning to China

Adopted Chinese children return to their roots: Thirty Chinese children adopted by North American families have returned to China "to search for their roots". The children aged 12 to 18 joined a summer camp with a theme of "Embracing China, Feeling Beijing", which was sponsored by the China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) and specially designed for Chinese children adopted by foreign families.

Local Story

Adoptive familes swap stories at picnic: Joslin Fields' adopted daughter was wrapped in six layers of winter clothes when Chinese adoption officials handed her over in 2003. "There was only 19 pounds beneath the 25 pound package we were handed," Fields recalled Sunday. "It was weird, because 2 1/2 years of anticipation led up to this big event."

Local Story

Group supports adoptive families: Adoption can be a long, trying process for a family, but one that most find worth the tribulation. International adoption, in particular, may take a longer than a domestic adoption. Several Limestone County families who are members of the Athens chapter of Families with Children from China say a network of people who have gone through the same process may make the course of an adoption easier to navigate.

Local Story

Family on way to China for girl: A local family is in China this week picking up their new daughter as they complete their second international adoption. When Bill and Kathy Henry return, they will be joined by 22-month-old Olivia Glynnis, who lives in an orphanage in China's Guangdong Province. "It's very exciting," Kathy said. "We're fortunate to be able to do this, or we wouldn't have any children."

Local Story

Interracial twins bring a new dimension to the American family: Jenna and Sam Goering are in the same grade in school, play with the same younger brother and sisters, and live in the same spacious farmhouse-style home in Bourbonnais, Ill. Seven years ago, they entered their parents' lives on the same day.

Local Story

The Greatest Mother's Day Gift Of All: When Southold resident Cathy Reilly lost her adopted baby girl Gracie to sudden onset leukemia in 2004, she faced a heartbreaking reality that no mother should ever have to bear.

Local Story

'Little gem' prompts G'cullen couple to fundraise for Chinese orphanage: In a process that took over two and a half year's to complete, Liz and Gerard Hosey say the long wait for their little gem Megan was worth every minute.

Local Story

The Red Thread: Gavin and Britta Barney are not unique in their search to adopt a child from China, but they are unique in their way of going about it. The two have written and published a cookbook to help raise money for some of their adoption expenses.