Moms of TCH Children Find Flowery Boppy Pillow Connection,
Launch Online Group for TCH Families
  
     
 
By Sara C. Shoemaker, apaTCHina group owner
  
     
 
In the spring of 2007, my world was consumed with preparations to bring home our son Jack (Yu) who had two cleft surgeries and eyelid surgery thanks to True Children’s Home. I had joined a couple of online discussion groups of parents waiting to adopt Chinese children with special needs to share information and learn from others. I also uploaded some of the pictures our agency had sent us of Jack, including one of him as an infant, post cleft surgery, lying on a flowery Boppy pillow. In response, I got an e-mail from Laura Beth Cohn who had a photo of her daughter Guo posed on the same flowery Boppy pillow. Guo and Jack were from the same province and both had cleft repair surgery. Neither of us was familiar with True Children’s Home, so we assumed the pictures were taken at a hospital somewhere in Guangdong.

Guo
 
     
 

Jack
My husband and I traveled to Guangzhou in August 2007 to meet Jack and had the unique opportunity to visit TCH. In the corner of the playroom we saw a stack of flowery Boppy pillows, and everything started to come together. Since then, I have connected with more families whose children benefited from TCH’s incredible program. Laura Beth and I decided to launch Adoptive Parents of Alumni of True Children’s Home—China, an online group exclusive to families who have adopted, or have a referral for, a child who spent time at
TCH. We hope to grow into a positive, supportive community that will foster relationships with the families of TCH’s “brothers and sisters,” while discussing travel, continuing medical care at home and general China adoption topics. We would also like to find ways to help TCH with fundraising.
 
     
  Please visit our group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/apatchina. If you would like to request membership, provide your child’s Chinese name, home orphanage and dates when he or she was at TCH. Flowery Boppy pillow photo not required! In a child’s medical files, TCH may be translated as Kansas Children’s Home or Kansas Fostering Home, or listed as China Care, an organization with which TCH is affiliated. We look forward to meeting you and your precious TCH child!  
     
     
 
 

Programs

Children’s Home Program
New Children Welcomed
 
   
   
   
   
     
 
Qing, (girl) born November 2007
Abandoned in Guangdong Province
Preemie with club feet
Yu, (boy) born November 2007
Abandoned in Guangdong Province
Neonatal cephalohematoma
Tao, (girl) born November 2006
Abandoned in Guangdong Province
Cleft lip
 
     
 
     
Jue, (girl) born October 2007
Abandoned in Guangdong Province
Cleft lip
Jie, (boy) born December 2007
Abandoned in Guangdong Province
Cleft palate
 
     
 
 

Birthday Celebration
 
   
   
     
 

Hua’s First Birthday

We celebrated Hua’s first birthday in December. Each birthday child wears a
red party hat and is helped to their first bite of cake. Festive cakes in China
are made of light cake with a whipped cream frosting and topped with decorative
fruits such as passion fruit, kiwi and mandarin oranges. Here, cakes are
sold by the pound!
 
     
 
 

Special Visits

 
   
   
     
 

Doctors, nurses and staff from Guangzhou Children’s Hospital came to TCH
for a visit. Hua and Che had successful surgery at this hospital.

  
     
 
 

Medical Care Program

 
   
   
     
 
 
 
 
En, cleft lip and eye
lid surgery
Hua, removal of a mass on the Xuan, cleft lip surgery
lumbosacral portion
Xuan, cleft lip surgery
 
 
 
 
 
 
Che, heart surgery
Tao, cleft lip surgery
Jian, cleft palate surgery
 
     
 
 

Foster Care Program

 
   
   
     
 
Xiang and his foster mother celebrate
Xiang’s Second Birthday
with cake, and friends!
 
     
 
 

Community Outreach

 
   
   
     
 
     
After having successful cleft lip surgery in June 2007, Jian returns to Dongguan for cleft palate surgery.
 
     
 
 

True Hero

 
   
   
     
  There are many people working together to make a difference in the lives of children that come to TCH.
Each month we will spotlight one of those individuals as our True Hero.		  
     
 
 
 
     
  In China, it is a tradition dating back to the Tang Dynasty to have a baby’s hair from their first haircut made
into a calligraphy brush. Typically, the child’s name, birth date and good wishes are carved on the brush handle.
For most people, the brush is more of a memento than for actual use.		  
     
 
 
     
  We are continuing this tradition and making a calligraphy brush for each child from haircuts provided by Miss
Xue. For more than fifty years Miss Xue has been cutting hair. She moved to Dongguan three years ago, heard about TCH through her church and thought, “Well those children need haircuts too.” Several times a year Miss Xue comes and provides haircuts for the children, which for most is their first haircut.		  
     
  Thank you Miss Xue. You are a True Hero!  
     
 
 

Adoption
 
   
   
     
 
CHINA: A JOURNEY THAT WILL CHANGE
YOUR HEART FOREVER…
By Kathy Storro
  
     
     
  In the December issue of True News we included an article by Kathy Storro relating her experiences of not
only working with families to adopt children in China but also actually adopting four beautiful Chinese
daughters. Given Kathy’s vast experience and knowledge of the adoption process we would like to share
some of the answers to questions that typically arise in the Chinese adoption process.		  
     
  What is the “one-child policy” and how does it affect adoption?  
     
  In order to control population growth, China implemented a “one-child policy.” Although this policy is becoming
less strict in some provinces, some are still adhering to it. There is also a cultural preference for healthy boys. Boys carry on the family name and support their parents in their senior years. Girls live with their husband’s parents to assist in caring for their needs.		  
     
  Thousands of beautiful healthy infant girls are abandoned. Many more are beautiful infant girls with special
needs, some of which are minor or repairable. Boys with special needs are also abandoned due to health care
costs. China does not allow children to be relinquished for adoption.		  
     
  What children are available for adoption?  
     
  The children who are adoptable have been abandoned with no identifiable blood relatives. Most of these children
are girls who have been abandoned due to population control efforts or have a special need. While there are some “healthy” boys on the adoption list the majority of boys have special needs. Children with special needs are placed only when requested or through the Waiting Child program. Chinese adoptions are “closed” meaning the birth parents are unknown.		  
     
  Can we adopt a child with special needs?  
     
  The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA), a Chinese government office located in Bejing, has established
a program for the adoption of children with special needs: the “Waiting Child” program. The CCAA sends a list of adoptable children to the agency approximately every 3-4 months. Small World is one of these “Waiting Child” agencies and has proven to be qualified by CCAA to assist in the adoption of these children.		  
     
  The process for the adoption of a waiting child is short. The wait is approximately 4 months following the
submission of the acceptance of the child and the submission of the required documents for the adoption. This wait is much less than the predicted 2-3 years for a “healthy” child. Families may start the adoption process as non-special needs applicants and then switch to a Waiting Child application if they desire.		  
     
  The needs of a child can very greatly from very minor, repairable needs to more major needs. Many of the
children have heart problems, cleft lips and palates and orthopedic needs. Many of the children at True Children’s Home would qualify for adoption under this program if the originating orphanage submits documents
for them.		  
     
  * Please look for additional excerpts from this article in the February edition of True News. If you have additional
questions regarding the adoption process you can contact Kathy, Waiting Child Director and China Specialist,
Small World Adoption, at Kathy@swa.net.		  
     
 
 

More Succesful Adoptions
 
   
   
     
 
Fen, Jun and Lian were all adopted to families living in the U.S.
  
     
 
 
     
 
 

Vital Statistics
 
   
   
     
  Children who received care—63  
     
  Surgeries performed—65  
     
  Children transitioned to foster care—34  
     
  Children adopted—12  
     
  True Children’s Home relies on donations from individuals, organizations and corporations. One hundred
percent of donated funds goes into one of our four programs: children’s home, medical care, foster care or
community outreach.		  
     
  True Children’s Home is affiliated with China Care foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization. Donations to
TCH are completely tax deductible. All administrative expenses are underwritten by Alan and Twila True.		  
     
  If you would like more information on how you can help, contact us at info@truechildrenshome.org or visit
our website at www.truechildrenshome.org.		  
     
  For monetary donations, please make the check payable to China Care Foundation. In the Memo/For section
of the check write “True Children’s Home.” All checks must be drawn on a U.S. bank. Send your check to
True Children’s Home, c/o True North America, P.O. Box 51057, Irvine, CA 92619-1057.