Immunizations

Another small task done in the adoption process today. I went to my doctor's office this morning and started my Hepatitis A and B immunization series. This isn't something we had to do but was suggested by our adoption agency. Jen decided to wait until I got the shots to make sure I didn't have any weird reaction before she started hers. It was the least I could do since she got all the shots during our fertility treatments. Beside a couple sore shoulders I am no worse for wear. I will need to go back in a month to get the second shot in the series and then in another 6 months for the final shot. Still no news on our log in date. There have been all kinds of rumors floating around regarding whether a batch of referral are going to be sent out before Chinese New Year. It seems that the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs shuts down for a few weeks for Chinese New Year which is January 29th this year. So this means that if referrals are not sent out by then, they will not be out until at least mid-February.

China's Lost Girls

We watched a great DVD lat night called China's Lost Girls. It is a National Geographic special/documentary hosted by Lisa Ling from the View. Lisa travels to China with a group of parents who are adopting little girls. It is very well done and digs in to some of the issues that China is currently facing and will be facing in the coming years due to their population control laws (one-child policy). One of the families is adopting a sister (a mei-mei) for their daughter that they adopted a few years before. The mother travels to the park where her first daughter was found and pins up a poster with her picture and a note that says that she has been adopted and is healthy and happily living in the United States. Oftentimes when a mother abandons her daughter she will stay around the area to make sure that her daughter is found safely. After the poster was pinned up many people gathered around, a young Chinese man who spoke English told the adoptive mother that he felt disgraced by the fact that so many babies are abandoned. He also felt concerned that when she grows up her daughter would not feel any pride for China because they abandoned her. The mother reassured the Chinese man that they were doing all they could to keep close ties between their daughter and her Chinese heritage. It was an interesting dialogue between the two of them and goes to show that the Chinese people feel embarrassed by the effects of the population control policy. Another scene in the movie that stands out was one where the families travel back to the orphanage where the babies lived for the first year of their life. One on the caretakers was crying because the adoptive mother did not take the baby back to the orphanage with her. The mother was concerned that it would be too confusing for the baby. The caretaker was hoping to see the baby one last time before she left to say goodbye. She was very upset but it showed that these babies are taken care of and loved and do form bonds with their caretakers.

Are You Concerned About the Bird /Avian Flu?

Still no new news on our Log In Date, we assume we are already logged in but just haven't been notified yet. Now another one of our Frequently Asked Questions...

Are You Concerned About the Bird /Avian Flu?

The short answer is not really, but I would be lying if I said we weren't thinking about it. When there is a newspaper article about new outbreaks we do read them with interest. Recently we have read that there have been outbreaks of the virus in parts of Europe but they seem to be pretty sporadic and have been contained. From what we understand the Avian flu currently can only be transmitted to humans by handling animals that are infected with the virus. In some parts of China people have chickens running around their yards so it is understandable that the virus is transmitted to them. I recently read an article about some children in Turkey who got the virus because they were playing with dead chicken heads. Not sure why they were playing with chicken heads but we will be sure not to do this when we travel to China. It is supposedly safe to eat chicken as long as it is cooked well so we are not too concerned about getting the virus through eating meals while in China. The big concern is that the virus could mutate into a form that could easily be transmitted through the air from human to human. If this happens there would probably be quarantines and travel bans, similar to the SARS outbreak a few years ago. The other scary point about the avian flu is that it is a much more powerful virus that the regular Influenza virus that go around every winter. The Avian flu seems to affect and sometimes kill people regardless of their age or strength of immune system. Our agency has an update on their website about the Avian flu as well and it says that the Chinese Government is pretty diligent about preventing any outbreaks of the virus. It is mandatory that if a bird is found dead an emergency team arrives in the area and whether the bird died from Avian Flu or not all birds within a ten mile radius are killed. So it is comforting that the Chinese are taking it very seriously. I have noticed that there have been a lot less news reports lately about Avian Flu so maybe the media is getting bored with it. I really think it was something that the media latched onto and blew out of proportion. But we will continue to read all we can about it and hope that it doesn't mutate into a virus that is more easily transmitted.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!!! No new news on the adoption, we did get an email from our agency today. The email confirms that referrals are slowing down into 2006. Not great news but we are glad to be into the new year and moving forward. Our agency did get some referrals today but for families that were logged in back in April 2005. We still do not have our log in date but we are thinking we will get it soon. We bought a digital camera for Christmas and have been have been having fun playing around with it. Here is a pic of some of the gifts we received for Grace for Christmas.