Visiting the Past

Sorry it has taken me a couple of days to post.  First, we have been extremely busy and second, I wasn't sure how much of this I was willing to share. Part of me wants people to know and part of me wants it to be his story to tell.  You assume a certain amount of risk when you place things for others to read, so I will tell what I am conformable with for now. Today was a very emotional day. But in order to understand the magnitude of today, I will need to tell you a little about McLaren’s history.  This post will be long but I hope you will get a small taste of what a miracle his story is and how fortunate we feel to have him in our lives.  Most couples that adopt internationally, never have the opportunity to know their child’s history before they came to their new family.  We discovered many months ago that McLaren’s story was different. In China, there is no welfare system.  You can not receive medical care without paying for the cost. If you are poor and your child is born with a medical need, you are out of luck.  The child will more than likely die. It is also illegal to abandon your child. So couples really have no other option but to abandon their children anonymously and hope someone will find them that can care for them. I relate it to the faith of Moses’ mother.  There is no doubt that they love their children and are willing to risk it.  Many times, they will leave them on the corner of the street, in a bus station, someplace crowded and then go hide and watch to see if someone will take them.  The children are taken to an orphanage to live. This is when their history begins. There are 147 million orphans in the world.  About 1 million are in China with 3,000 being adopted each year. This is the story of just 1 of them.

April 15, 2009

It was a Wednesday. Either at 10:05 in the morning or 10:05 in the afternoon, a child was born somewhere in the middle of China.  Unlike most children, this child was born with a life threatening condition. Surgery is necessary and usually performed within the first 24 hours.  

May 13, 2009

28 days after birth, early in the morning, a duffle bag was placed out side of a wallpaper shop in downtown Gong’an.  The bag never moved or made a sound.  Between 3:30 and 4 pm, a cleaning lady became curious and unzipped the mysterious abandoned bag.  The owner of the store was notified and immediately called the police.  Inside was a baby boy.  He was black and his stomach looked like a basketball.  The pain was so intense that he couldn’t cry or move, but he was alive. Also inside the bag was a few pieces of children’s clothing and a note that read “April 15, 2009, 10:05”. Several people ran to buy milk, but the infant was already dying.

The police rushed to the scene and found the baby faint of breath and called the emergency number.  Within minutes the child arrived at the County People’s Hospital for treatment.

After examination, the doctor stated that having surgery within a few days of birth is critical. To see one still alive after 28 days is a miracle.  The infant was facing multiple organ failure.  The lungs were constricted and death would occur in only a few hours.

May 14, 2009

The next morning, Dr. Zhang addressed reporters, “This baby has survived 29 days and insists on survival.  It is simply a miracle of life.  Such tenacious vitality, and I have the confidence to operate on him. I believe he will survive.”

The first of three surgeries was performed that afternoon.  During the surgery, rescue shelter staff, pediatric health care workers, as well as the first to discover the abandoned baby, and others waited in the operating room watching the child’s situation. The surgery lasted about an hour. At 5:15, the surgery was over and it was a success. The baby boy was placed in an incubator in intensive care. The news spread quickly of the miraculous story. The fate of one little child had affected so many people.  The police came to visit the boy in the hospital. The Women’s Federation President, Suli Lan, also came to visit the child. She wanted to learn more about the child’s medical staff who were treating the boy and paid 1,000 yuan in his behalf. Word spread of “the boy who lived” and other people started bringing milk, clothes, and money to the hospital.  

June 8, 2009

After 20 days in the incubator, the infant was handed to Li Zuping, a 57 year old care worker.  She became known as Grandma Li.  For the next 5 months, she and her daughter Hu took extremely good care of the baby.  Hu cared for the child as her own.  

November 7, 2009

Time for surgery number two.   The surgery lasted two hours and was very successful.  Grandma Li stayed by his side.  She would pat him to sleep, and when he was thirsty, she would wet a cotton swab and gently rub his lips. He is almost 7 months old.

Thus far, the baby has been known as “Diudiu”, but Grandpa Li didn’t like the name and said that although he was abandoned he deserved a name of dignity.  So they named him Zhang MinHui. “Zhang” after his doctor who believed in his determination, “Min” after the many people who cared for him and sacrificed their time and money to save his life, and “Hui” which means bright future. 

January 28, 2010

The last surgery. Today is the first day that he is considered a healthy happy boy. 

April 12, 2011

MinHui is taken to the Jingzhou Orphanage.  

April 19th, 2013

It has been two long years, but the paperwork has been completed and signed allowing MinHui to be placed for adoption. The paperwork is then sent to the CCCWA (China Welfare Agency) for processing.  

June, 2013

MinHui has been assigned to Wasatch International Adoption Agency in Ogden, Utah. They named him “Keaton”. 

In January 2014, when Jeremy and I found “Keaton” on the internet, we had no idea that we had found a little Moses.  Having learned all this a few months ago, we planned a trip to his orphanage and “founding” place.  So today, we were picked up early and taken 3 hours to Jingzhou.  We had lunch with the orphanage director and his caregiver.  They gave us a gift.  An ox pendant made of pure jade.  Then we were taken to the orphanage.  It was small and extremely clean.  Only about 25 or so children.  Most of them were severely handicapped.  They explained that McLaren was the life of the orphanage. Having no mental or physical problems, he was the little helper and shared his joy of life with the other children.  They were sad to see him go.  We brought goodies to the other children.  They gave us a tour.  I was doing pretty well emotionally until they took me to the bedroom where all the children sleep and pointed to his bed and said, “it is empty now”. A flood of emotional came over me and tears started to fall.  I feel humble and honored to be his mother.

From there, we drove south to Gong’ an, about 30 minutes, to find the wallpaper store where he had been abandoned. We found it and took some pictures of him in the same location. 

I can’t imagine what all he has been through the last 5 years, but I have no doubt he was found for a reason, that I was chosen to be his mother, and that he has a special mission in life.