This question has been asked of us several times.  Simple answer:

We said we would take one.

Many adoptive parents only want babies.  Many adoptive parents will not take boys.  Mothers are often the ones that initiate adoption, not fathers, and they sometimes think that it will be easier to bond with a daughter.  Some fathers are okay with adoption, but not so okay with a son who is not of their biological lineage carrying  on their family name.  Some people believe that girls are easier to raise than boys (anyone who has raised children can tell you it is all about personality, not gender). 

Most people adopting from China ask for a girl.  Some go to China specifically because there are girls available, while in many European countries there are more boys available.  We first looked at domestic adoption for an 8-10 year old boy, then at Ukraine with the intent to adopt a couple of boys or a boy and girl, then switched to China because of the relative simplicity of the process and the ability for just one of us to travel-G is self-employed so this was better for us. 

We asked for either gender.  We have a closet full of little girl's clothing, since boys are rarely referred, but bought some boy's clothing too, just in case.  So although we expected a girl, it really didn't matter, and there was no preference.  Okay, not quite true-LB wanted a brother.

 

I get headaches when I travel-literally.  I get migraines, I vomit, I sleep, and then I recover from traveling.  (This poor kid will be meeting me on my recovery day.)

What I don't need is headaches just trying to get the tickets bought, but I have one of those now.  Yesterday I got the amount for the fare, made a transfer from my checking account to my credit card so I'd have enough available, and in the evening faxed my credit authorization to the travel agency.  Done, right?

No.  First the fax didn't go through.  Resent it.

Next I double checked that my transfer had gone through.  It hadn't.  So I called the credit card company and they said it would post at the end of the day today and that they would put an override on my account so there would be no problem when the charge came in.

There was a problem.  The travel agency called to tell me that the ticket charges were declined.  So I called the credit card company again.  They said no charge attempt had been made and for the company to double check the number and try again.

They had my number and expiration date correct.  They tried again.  Then they called me to say that they were able to buy tickets for myself and Yan Aidan, but not for LB.

So I called the credit card company again, while I had my account information open on my laptop and, since my portable phone had died from long wait times, I had my other phone and laptop stretched toward one another from opposite sides of the room so that I could look and talk at the same time.  (No, it didn't occur to me to unplug the laptop-too easy) 

The credit card company showed only one charged ticket.  The guy told me that he showed no payment pending (it was on my screen) but that he could authorize a one-time charge for one of the tickets but not both.  I told him that I couldn't travel without one of my kids being on the same flight and that I would have to cancel the whole transaction and try again.  He told me to hurry and do that transaction right away if I planned to.  (Jerk)

I called the travel agency back.  They said they definitely had two tickets authorized and would ask the airlines to hold one and try charging it again tomorrow.  They called a few minutes later to tell me that the third ticket went through.  And all the while, my credit card history on-line showed only one ticket being purchased. 

This is just the beginning!

 

We have travel dates at last:

October 10-Leave the US via Detroit & Tokyo stops
October 11-Arrive Beijing (same day as we left, but timeline difference)
October 12-Yan will join us
October 22-Appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou
October 23-Fly home via Toykyo & Detroit stops
October 24-Arrive home on G's 50th birthday-what a gift!

 

Our new son finally has a name-Aidan Marcus.

I was concerned about the Aidan, even though it is a name I love, because it was the second most popular name in the U.S. in 2006, and I like our children to have unique names.  But we all like it, and it was LB's favorite.  She especially likes that it means, "Little Fire". 

His middle name came from the family-our nephew who died in June.  I've been waiting for G to talk with his sister and make sure it was okay, and she thinks it's wonderful.  Marcus was actually named after a football player, but the name Marcus comes originally from Mars, the Roman God of War.  So I'm thinking, Oh great, this kid is going to be someone to keep up with!

I wanted to name him Yan Aidan Marcus to preserve some of his heritage, but G was against that, so I'll probably call him Yan Aidan until he is used to the Aidan, eventually switching it to Young Aidan and then just plain Aidan.