In 2005, my husband and I began to discuss the possibility of having another child. We had three biological kids and I (mom) didn't want to birth another. Some friends at my husband's workplace had recently adopted through GWCA and gave Shawn their information.

We wrote for the information packet and saw the very same people who worked with Shawn featured in the DVD. We soon attended an informational session in our city (San Antonio) taught by a local couple who had also adopted from China. Families who had just returned from China came and brought their newly adopted children which was very impacting for us. We were pretty sure this was the route we wanted to take. Unfortunately we decided to wait a year as Shawn's mother had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's and we didn't know how we would be called to help.

In 2006, after praying through Lent, we decided to go ahead full steam. The wait was approximately 12 months at that time. We submitted our dossier to China in Oct. and got a log-in date of November 13, 2006. About a year later we started getting e-mails that the wait was extending 24 to 36 months. I thought surely that didn't include us. Well, of course it did.

Our family was busy, and Shawn's mother's health continued to decline and we were needed more and more. The years passed, and we renewed our I-600A faithfully, went to training and attended Waiting Family dinners. I went through all the stages of a loss: denial, anger, hopelessness & finally acceptance.

After we accepted that our wait was going to be a long one, we began to check into alternatives. We started a simultaneous adoption from Ethiopia and we investigated the Waiting Child list. At first the Waiting Child list was discouraging, as it seemed the children had more severe needs than we could manage. Then Great Wall sent out an e-mail saying they had no families on the Waiting Child list. So we jumped at the opportunity and renewed our Waiting Child Questionnaire.

While we did not get the first referral we were after, the process of pursuing it educated us and showed the special needs coordinators at Great Wall that we were serious and ready to adopt a child with our chosen special need. In September 2010, with Cori's help, we were matched with another child's file. After having it reviewed we enthusiastically requested to adopt her.

We left for China on December 15, 2010, and returned home December 31st with the perfect little girl for our family. We had a wonderful time in China as a family, and we are amazed at how well our new daughter fits into our family. As hard as it was to wait, God blessed us with the perfect little girl at the perfect time. Our oldest daughter still gets to spend some time with our youngest before she goes off to college, and my boys are incredibly good and helpful with her. Sadly, my husband lost his mom October 22, 2010, but she got to see the referral photos.

Sean, Wendy, Meghan, John, Matthew and Maggie Loftus