A Story of International Adoption

This post is a part of our feature series this month on adoption and foster care. Learn how you can help make an impact during National Adoption Awareness Month in November and find ideas on teaching your children about the plight of orphans in the world with our Guide to Teaching Your Children about Orphans.

On May 5, 2010, I received an e-mail forwarded from a friend, about a waiting child in a Chinese orphanage:

JF is a 13 year old boy that is deaf and he uses sign language to communicate. He goes to a special school for the deaf…He needs a family to love and enable him to reach his full potential before he is 14 years old – when he becomes ineligible for international adoption. He has waited too many years already, and has been passed over so many times for adoption.

I forwarded it to my husband, Jon, but actually didn’t think twice about it. With Tanner, our ten-year-old son who is deaf and has a declining neurological condition, his health was our biggest concern. Would we be able to take care of his needs along with another child, and would both children get what they needed while dealing with Tanner’s health?

And I had already decided we wouldn’t adopt internationally—it was too expensive. There was too much involved. A few days later, Jon asked what I thought about it. I replied “nothing.” We decided to contact the agency that was listed in the e-mail, to see if this was even something real. We thought it could’ve been a hoax, or an old email.

But it was true. Unsure about what God had planned, we filled out the pre-qualification paperwork. If this was something God actually wanted to happen, we’d need a miracle. Jian’s birthday was September 29^th, and after that date he’d no longer be available for adoption.

With the clock ticking, we finally received an appointment for our required fingerprinting for August, 6. We called the adoption agency. This date was too late. By the time the fingerprints were to be processed, Jian would no longer be adoptable. Disappointed, we still felt a peace that I can’t explain. This had been God’s urging all along; if He wanted it to happen, it would.

Providentially, our friends, Paul and Robin Pennington, informed us that our congressman could help us to get our fingerprints done quickly. Although our agency didn’t think it was a good idea, we went ahead and called our congressman’s office. Before I had even finished scanning our papers to send in, our congressman’s office called back letting us know we could get the fingerprinting done that afternoon if we could drive to Houston in time. We were bowled over.

God was showing us how He can accomplish anything that He wants to; that no boundaries are too great.

That was only the beginning. There were many more steps to go through, and they were often overwhelming. But we were reminded that God knew before the world began who this boy’s family was, and if it wasn’t us, He had a better plan.

Four days before our flight was scheduled to leave for China, we finally received notification. The Chinese consulate had approved our visa. The last piece of paper was approved.

A few more days passed, and we found ourselves walking into the civil affairs office in China. A few hours later—just days before Jian’s birthday—we left the office together, as a family of four.

I’ve heard it said that to teach a child something new they need to see/hear it around 8,000 times. This is a daunting number. But I am reminded of the times God has been faithful, and the ways He has shown His power are countless. We are learning.

Shelly Bergeron is wife to an amazing husband, a CASA volunteer, and a proud mother to two sons who are deaf. Their first son, now 10, was adopted in 2007 after being fostered for two years, and their second son, now 15, was adopted in 2010 from China.

Editor’s Note:  November is National Adoption Awareness Month, and many are working together to raise awareness for these children who are close to God’s heart. Join us this week and all November long as we focus on this important issue. We’ll be featuring adoptive and foster moms throughout the month and ways that you can make a difference. We may not all be called to adopt, but we are all called to action.