Several years after Trinity’s adoption, I must admit that it is a little strange writing about our experience in China, as if it happened a lifetime ago. So much has changed. Trinity is smarter, goofier, livelier, and even more beautiful than she was the day we first saw our tight-fisted, “smileless” little girl. Each developing moment of her incredible life has overshadowed our two week adoption experience in China. However, even though most of our experiences there have been stored in hundreds of pictures and priceless videos, two very important, very contrasting days will and shall always be vividly etched in my memory without the help of visual aid, the day we first received Trinity in our arms, affectionately known as “Gotcha Day,” and the day we visited her orphanage. These two days are not only very important to my family, but also to any family adopting.

On “Gotcha Day,” we, along with the other families adopting in our group, took a bus to the Civil Affairs office in Guangzhou to finally receive our beautiful little girls. It was a very intense ride with everyone's nerves kicking in. After waiting a little while, we stood in a circle while they brought the babies in one by one while each family stood in the middle of the circle when their baby arrived. The room filled with emotion very quickly. Some babies cried, others slept, others were calm, but when they brought beautiful Trinity in, she was so calm and welcomed us as much as we welcomed her. Out of all the babies she had the biggest, deepest eyes. She was truly the most beautiful, the most unique China doll in the room with her olive skin and large almond eyes. Of course, every other family in the room felt the same way about their own child, but what made each child special was that they uniquely belonged to each family. Trinity was ours. As I watched my mother coo and kiss her, it hit me that we just did something truly incredible, we adopted a child. We saved her from what very well could have been a loveless existence by giving her a life with our family who will always and forever love her, care for her, and give her opportunities unimaginable to many orphans all around the world.

The second vivid day was when we visited the Trinity’s orphanage. This day was equally as emotional as the day we received her, but in a very different way. The director of the orphanage took us to where the babies lived, and it was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. There was about one nanny to every 12 babies so it seemed. The cribs were small, and the babies slept on hard wood instead of mattresses.. As soon as we walked in the door, the babies desperately wanted to be held, and I so wanted to take them all with me. They were screaming to be loved on, and none looked happy. However, what broke my heart the most were the deformed babies or those with birth defects that would never be adopted. I cried the most when I saw a hermaphrodite baby which is a baby who is part girl and part boy, and consequently will not be allowed to be adopted. His future probably consists of hard-labor in a factory or begging on the streets. He had the most pitiful eyes that pulled on my heart strings. When my mom picked him up, he wouldn't let go. I felt horrible because I couldn't do anything to rescue him. To live there for 14 yrs. until you are let go to face the world alone is truly a horrifying thought. It was an extremely bittersweet experience. It was sweet because I could now fully understand the significance of our adopting my little sister, and bitter because there were still so many who needed to be adopted. There are hundreds of orphans in that one orphanage, and there are hundreds of orphanages throughout that one country. It is truly overwhelming to me when I think about the amount of orphans in the world who have not been given a happy family and a hopeful future like my sister. However, even though we couldn’t save them all, being privileged enough to adopt just one is incredibly rewarding and humbling.