Tonight we watched a documentary by National Geographic called China's Lost Girls. Lisa Ling followed several families from Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, etc., who were traveling to China to adopt their baby girls. Some of the families weren't able to have children of their own, so they chose to adopt from China; while other families had already adopted from China, and were going through the process a second time. We learned that it is illegal for pregnant women to find out the sex of their babies. We also learned that having a son is honorable to a family; sons carry the family name, provide labor for the family, and sons stay and take care of their aging parents. It showed how new parents are able to learn about and see where their baby was first found before entering the orphanage or foster home (whether in a market, a box on a street, a park, etc.). It showed the parents' "Gotcha Day"...where they are all able to see their babies for the first time, after seeing nothing but a single photo for so long. It also showed The White Swan hotel. This is where all parents and newly adopted children stay just before leaving to travel back to the U.S. Savy kept sharing with me how she knew how to say "Happy New Year" in chinese (along with showing me her squinted chinese eyes). Bo felt so excited about what we're going to go through....right now 5-7 years feels so far away, but we know it will be here before we know it.
