NationalAdoption Month:
Three Families share their Stories

The Pollard family: Judi, Will (holding the first newborn baby they fostered) and Bob.

agreed that a daughter would be a wonderful addition. John had obtained some information from a Chinese adoption agency and came to me and said, "You don't have to be pregnant, and when all is said and done you'll have a daughter." OK, where do I sign?

After completing all the required paperwork, we expected to hear about our daughter in four to six weeks, and travel to China six weeks after that to meet her and bring her home. Unfortunately, due to a freeze on international adoptions on the Chinese side, our wait turned into a 10-month ordeal and we were unsure as to whether we'd even receive our child.

Finally, on Friday, the 13th of June 1997, 15 months after our initial contact with the agency, we got "The Call." Our nine-month-old daughter, Guo Cha Jiang, now known as Elyse, was waiting for us. A few years later, I found myself on a plane back to China to adopt our second daughter, An Qi Nan, now known as Annalea, from the city of Xi'an in the Shaanxi province.

Having biological children as well as adopted children has given me a chance to see motherhood from different perspectives. With my sons, who are biologically mine, I see physical features, temperaments, mannerisms, talents, strengths and weaknesses that I can understand and recognize. These things are as comfortable and familiar as an old pair of shoes. It is different with my girls. I am learning about their talents, their innate abilities and their inherent approach to the world. I have had no part in their nature, only their nurture. It is fascinating to wonder about their heritage and to see bits of it in the everyday things they do.

John and I are always uncomfortable when people imply that we have done a good thing by adopting our daughters. The reality is we feel humbled to have been considered worthy to raise these children. It is our honor, our privilege and our labor of love.

— Lynn and Bob Anderson

November is National Adoption Month. The purpose of National Adoption Month is to focus attention on the increasing numbers of children in the child welfare system waiting to be adopted. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, of the approximately 588,000 children currently in foster care, an estimated 134,000 are waiting for permanent families. Many of the children who wait have special needs, and all of them need the security and stability of a permanent family to develop to their full potential. This month, The TowneLaker is featuring, in their own words, three families whose lives have been touched by the adoption or foster care system: Judi and Bob Pollard, who participate in the Interim Foster Care program; Lynne and Bob Anderson, who adopted a child from China; and Alan and Bernadette DeRocher, who have four internationally adopted children.

Interim Foster Care

Since May of this year, my family has had the privilege of serving the community as Foster Parents. We are in a special program called Interim Newborn Foster Care, which means that we care for newborn infants that are being placed for adoption. We have each child from the time they are released from the hospital until they are placed into a permanent adoptive family.

We truly feel that God led us to this program. We had been trying to adopt but were not sure this was God's plan for us. I prayed that if we were not going to parent another child that He would show me what to do with my love for children, and my longing to hold babies. It was less than a week after I began praying for a new direction that I called Bethany Christian Services about another matter and heard about the newborn program. I never knew such a program existed, but I knew that this was exactly what we needed to do, and the whole family agreed.

It was a lengthy approval process with background checks, references, interviews and a home study. So far, we have had three precious babies and are about to receive another. Everyone asks if it's hard to give him or her up. For us, since we know up front that the placement is temporary, and especially because we get to be a part of the placement process, it is not heartbreaking. We do miss them a little, but we know how happy their new family is. We have seen, over and over, how God chooses exactly the right family for each of these children, so we feel honored to be a part of it.

— Judy and Bob Pollard

(left to right) front row: Alan and Bernadette DeRocher. Back row: Thomas, David, Annora and Karen.

We have adopted all
four of our children

Our youngest, Karen is from Russia, our boys, Thomas and David are from Romania, and our oldest daughter, Annora, is from Kazakhstan. It has been an amazing journey for all of us! Ten years ago was the most exciting time of our lives. Our boys were still new to us, and we were just beginning the paperwork to add girls to the family. Looking back, the truly incredible thing was how quickly we bonded into one complete family, considering our kids ranged in age from two to five when we adopted them. Now, it is practically impossible to even remember that our children began life in four different biological families. They interact with each other and us no differently from children in any other family.

One of the main requirements when adopting is an unending supply of trust. We've experienced many obstacles in receiving our children, but through it all, we trusted we would end up with the right children for us. In the end, our trust was not in vain. Our kids may not be perfect, but they are the perfect kids for us. We are proud of them and know they are proud of us as well.

— Bernadette and Alan DeRocher

Why China?

Elyse and Annalea Anderson.

This was a question my husband, John, and I were often asked in 1996 when we told family and friends about our adoption plans. In 1999 when we started the process again to adopt a child who would become our fourth, the frequently asked question was, "Are you nuts?" The answer to the first question is a little involved. The answer to the second question is simple — probably, maybe and sometimes.

John and I had two healthy and active sons who were age seven and nine when we began our adoption journey. As fulfilled as we were with our family as it was, and there wasn't a possibility of another pregnancy, we both