Q. Why did you choose China?
A. My husband and I chose China because the people we talked to about international adoption had nothing but positive things to say about China and the care they give their children. We took classes to become foster parents here in the US, and thought we would adopt that way, but after a year, we never had a child placed with us.
To be fair, we [had] requested a child under the age of 3, and the agency always called us about older children or sib groups. At the time we started looking into international adoption, my husband and I decided we would look into adopting a special needs child, and adopting a deaf child had been the reason I started signing 22 years ago.
Q. Are you deaf, hearing, and is this your first child?
A. My husband and I are both hearing. Our two [adult] sons are hearing also. My husband took a sign class years ago and is starting to learn or refresh again, my [older] son has taken 3 college ASL classes, and my youngest son is watching DVDs to learn. The youngest has a real knack for picking up languages of all kinds.
Q. What is your involvement in deafness?
A. I am an educational sign language interpreter. I took my first class when I was 24 years old, started working as a paraprofessional in a local deaf program when I was 28. In my mid 30's I started interpreting for a deaf woman who worked at a rehabilitation facility. All of her clients were deaf and I interpreted staff meetings for her, interviews for the clients, and sometimes job coached. I missed working in the school setting, so I went back to educational interpreting and have been doing it ever since. I have worked all grade levels, but am currently in the high school program.
Q. What is the process to adopt from China?
A. Couples in the US have to have a home study (four visits/meetings with a case worker), letters from your [doctor], letters from employers ([be] financially capable of raising a child), police checks, financial documents, [and] letters of reference. [Documents have to be] county certified and state certified.
We were pre-approved about three weeks ago. When I asked what that meant, I was told he was 99% ours. We are waiting for final approval, and then we will travel to China. We will have to stay there for two weeks. The cost for us to adopt should come in just under $20,000.00 [in 2005 dollars], most likely around $18,000.00.
Q. How long has it taken you to adopt from China?
Q. We found him on the [internet] in July 2004, and the agency has been holding him for us ever since. We have been told we will travel in November 2005.
Q. Do you know anything about how the Chinese tested your child's hearing and what is your child's degree of hearing loss?
A. He has nerve deafness according to his medical file. We sent his medicals ([including an audiogram]) to an adoption doctor (this is always recommended), and she believes him to be deaf.
Q. What do you know about deafness in China? Do you know anything about how your future child communicates?
A. We have been told that some children are taught sign and others are not. It seems to depend on what part of the country you live in. He does not have a formal sign system, but seems to communicate through his own sign/gestures. We were recently told that he is happy when others understand him, and gets angry if they don't. I think I would feel the same way if I were in his shoes. He also seems to wink at people he feels comfortable with, and reacts to facial expressions.
Q. How do you plan to communicate with your child? How do you plan to educate him (hearing school, deaf program, deaf school, homeschool)?
A. We will use ASL at home and he will go to a local mainstream school located about 10 minutes away from our home. I also want him exposed to deaf culture as much as possible, so he will be around my deaf friends a lot. Also, one of my deaf friends and her husband are in the process of adopting a five year old deaf boy that they have had as a foster son, so we are thinking a lot of playdates there.
Q. Are you considering a cochlear implant for your child if hearing aids don't work?
A. We are not considering a cochlear for him. If he wants one when he becomes an adult, we will support his decision-but that is not something I would consider.
Q. Do you have any friends who have adopted deaf kids from China?
A. We live in a suburb. We do not have friends who have adopted a deaf child from China, but I found a woman who adopted her deaf son from China seven years ago and she lives about an hour north of us. When we get our son home we are going to get the boys together.
Q. Anything else you would like to add?
A. Our entire family is so excited about this adoption, and it seems to take such a long time. I think he is going to be a blessing to our family and anyone he comes into contact with.
