Our adoption of Lilianna came as a bit of a surprise. In May of 1999 we had two children by adoption. Elizabeth was 5 years old and had come to us from Russia, Christina was 2 years old and had come to us from Texas. We were planning to adopt a "middle child," about 3-4 years old when a friend asked me to help her locate a baby with a medical need to adopt. My friend was adopted as an infant and had several surgeries on her back so she felt a special bond with children who need surgery and wait for adoptive parents. Because of her back problems they were hoping to adopt a child who could be escorted, as an overseas flight would be difficult for my friend.

I cheerfully volunteered to help with their search and soon located a beautiful baby girl with a heart condition, waiting in Hyderabad. I found this child on the photolisting of the ICHILD website, at www.ichild.org. I called my friend, only to hear that they had just committed to adopt a baby boy who needed hand surgery!

When I told my husband the sad news for this baby he sat still for a moment and then said, "Well, we were planning to adopt an older child, but what are we going to do, spend the rest of our lives wondering what happened to her?" Seven months later, Baby Navya, now Lilianna Navya, came home to us. She has since had her heart surgery and she is now a thriving, loving, very beautiful almost 2 year old sweetheart!

A few weeks ago a friend who works for an adoption agency sent me a photo of a 6 year old girl who waits for adoption in Calcutta. I took one look at her and the words, "Hi Mama, it's me," went through my heart and mind. If all goes well, Dolma Noralee will soon become the older child we had set out to adopt last year!


Donna