Cora Yun-Chieh Scott

What a week! As you read earlier, we received our referral from Taiwan. Here are some of the details:

We began looking at the Asia Waiting program about a month ago knowing things in Taiwan were going to get dicey due to legislative changes (see early posts). These are children from China and Taiwan that have minor correctable medical needs all the way to severe special needs. There is a photo list of some of these available children that Gladney families can access. When I first went on it, Chieh Chieh caught my eye for sure:). However, she was "Under Consideration" meaning that the birth mother had already been looking at files to consider...we had missed out. About two weeks later I checked the photo list again, and she was at the top with "Available" next to her picture. Well I of course sent an e-mail to my case worker as fast as my fingers could type asking about her situation. My case worker called me 30 minutes later! She contacted the Taiwan program director the next day and essentially we waited for Chieh Chieh's birth mother to look at our file. The wait was very tough for Kyle and me to say the least. By the next Friday, I was crabby...Kyle and I just wanted to know. We had already grown attached to this little girl half way across the world. As soon as we sat down to begin our China paper work together, the phone rang with our caseworker's number. I nervously picked up and my caseworker asked what we were doing. I told her were working on things for China and she told us that we may want to put that on hold...that Chieh Chieh's birth mother had picked us!!! I could not even speak and handed the phone to Kyle. He got the details of the next steps while I cried then sat in shock. There have been only two other moments in my life when I felt this way...when I said my wedding vows to Kyle and when I held Max for the first time.

When Kyle got off the phone, I cried some more, we hugged, and we danced around the study. Kyle likes to do a little jig when he is excited :). We could not wait to tell our families of course. An hour later, Kyle had made a shirt for Max to wear with Chieh Chieh's picture on it labeled Little Sister. We had a blast surprising everyone and making phone calls.

We will be able to pick our sweet girl up in Taiwan 6 to 8 months from now. She is with a foster family until then. Court usually goes fine but like all adoptions there is a chance for things to fail. It will be a tough wait for sure. When we travel to Taiwan, we will stay for about a week. Luckily Kyle and I will get to pick up Chieh Chieh the second or third day. We will get to meet her foster parents and possibly the birth family. The rest of the trip will be spent going to appointments and sightseeing.

Thank you for all your prayers and support throughout this process. We feel humbled and so immensely grateful to have this chance. Please continue to pray for our court process, Chieh Chieh's foster parents (that they love and care for her fiercely), and Chieh Chieh's health. There is a strong chance she will need heart surgery when she comes home.

Blessings to you all! :)