Dreaming of China

After years of struggling with fertility issues my husband and I have decided to adopt. After doing some research into domestic adoption we decided to try an international agency. My brother in law and his wife adopted a beautiful baby girl from China last year. We went to a seminar their agency had in NYC and were quiet impressed with them. They gave us a lot of paperwork to read and review but we pretty much decided before we spoke to them that this is what we truly wanted.

I have spent the last week reading blogs from other American families who have adopted from China. There are hundreds of stories out there. I was amazed at how many families have had such a wonderful experience with Chinese adoption. The timing of the Olympics could not have been more perfect. At this point I am completely engrossed in learning everything I can about Chinese culture. I have even considered buying the Rosetta Stone instruction CDs for leaning Mandarin. We haven't even filled out all the paper work yet and I am worried about speaking Chinese !

The wait time for adoption from China is between 12-24 months. I figure that would give me plenty of time to learn as much as I can about China and work on my teaching degree so I can have more time at home with my family. Corporate America boasts of it's family friendly ideals but it's ultimately a lie. The company I work for claims it has great benefits for working moms but I have seen otherwise. I have had a supervisor grill me to see when I planned on having children so he could "plan ahead." I have seen managers chastise their direct reports for taking off the allowed time after having a baby, advising that "it would be detrimental to your career." It's a joke. Yet every year my company makes it in the top 100 places for Working Moms. Someone is not being truthful for sure. As a manager I have been told to NEVER call in sick or I will be blacklisted for the next layoff. Nice, eh ?

So there it is. In 2 years we could have a child of our own. It's so awe inspiring just to write it. Guess I'd better get started on that paperwork.