At lunch yesterday we joked about the silly questions my kids are sometimes asked about being adopted. “Is he your adopted brother?” Dara: “He’s my brother.” “Do you speak Kazakh?” My favorite was, “Are you gonna tell them?” Well, the girls are Central Asian, so… But in the midst of Christmas tree lights, brightly wrapped presents, and dinners with way too …
The Year We Missed Easter
Eighteen years ago, we missed Easter. Twice. On Sunday, March 27, 1999, we met Mira in Kazakhstan for the first time. All the next week we came to visit her, driving up a long and curvy, still snowy road from the capital city of Almaty to Esik, a journey of about only 40 miles but over an hour by car. I …
One More Time, Just For Fun
When I decided to take a few weeks’ break in January, I didn’t expect to be gone this long. But a lot of things have happened that kept me away. One of those things was my youngest daughter getting her learner’s permit. In Maryland, you can get that at 15 years and nine months old. You keep that for nine …
I Am Not A Child Trafficker
This is how an anti-adoption activist replied to a tweet of mine saying a quarter million children from around the world had become part of American families through international adoption since 1971. I (stupidly) responded, asking if I should have left my daughter in a baby house without enough food. He replied with a link to his website, which was basically pages and …
Memorable Day #4: Tears in Sarajevo
In the summer of 1997, John and I went to Bosnia with a group called Hoops for Hope. The war had been over for only a year and a half, and the city was still heavily scarred. Running water was turned on for only a couple hours a day, so the residents collected it in 2-liter bottles and stashed it …
Defending Catelynn
I cannot believe I am going to do this. I am going to defend a Teen Mom. You know, not a normal teen mom, an MTV Teen Mom. I don’t follow this show, although I’ve watched a few episodes. But this story has blown up all over the internet, and I heard about it. So here it is: In 2009, Catelynn …
Why Would You Want to Do That?
A case in Qatar this week made international headlines. An American couple of Asian descent has just been released after being trapped in the tiny middle-eastern country of Qatar for almost two years. In 2012, the Huangs were relocated to Doha, the capital of Qatar, by his employer to work on a major infrastructure project for the 2022 World Cup. …
Memorable Day #3: Bringing Them Home
Thirteen years ago yesterday we brought home Dara and Johnny. While we spent three weeks in Kazakhstan adopting Mira, we were gone only ten days start to finish with these two. We arrived home around 6pm the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. John’s dad brought Emma and Mira to the airport, and several of our friends were waiting at our house to greet …
Memorable Day 2: New Beginnings, Great Extremes
On December 22, 1998, we signed the closing papers for the house we now live in. We’d built what we thought would be the house we’d grow old in down in Atlanta. But then John accepted a transfer to the DC bureau of CNN, so we left everything we’d grow accustomed to, all our friends, the church we’d been part …
How Many Times Do I Have to Prove My Children Are Mine?
Last week we got passports for all our children. Should be a straightforward process, even for adopted children. We had to show the adoption decree along with birth certificates and proof of citizenship. It turned out to be a huge mess. Because we wanted to travel before the standard three-month window, we went to a library where there was a …