Continued from Part One

When we preliminarily signed on with our agency (Asian Children Services), Viet Nam was in the process of re-opening its doors to United States adoptions. We chose our agency after tedious, thorough research and we couldn’t have made a better decision when we chose them. We were actively involved in our adoption through the entire re-opening process and were excited when licenses began to be issued and agencies were able to start finding families for children.

It was difficult to find information at first because Viet Nam had been closed to United States adoptions for a few years, so most of the information circling the internet and in books was pre-shutdown. As the number of adoptions increased and more and more families were being matched with their children, more current information began to sprout up and become easier to find. I became somewhat addicted to blogs of waiting families and would daydream as I read their accounts of their in country experiences.

Our daughter was born in April of 2006 and we received her referral on June 6, 2006. she spent the first six months of her life being very well loved and cared for at her baby center in Bac Giang. Ella Cuc Ruth was placed in our arms on October 17, 2006 and our Giving and Receiving ceremony was held that same day at the Bac Giang Department of Justice (DOJ). We spent just shy of three weeks becoming a family and getting to know her beautiful country.

When we landed at JFK airport in New York, Miss Ella officially became a United States citizen. She is now learning all about being a Jersey girl and loves her family (the two legged human kind as well as the four legged furry kind.) I am fascinated by her and am genuinely humbled that I am lucky enough to have this amazing little love of a person call me mom.