Today we got our Preapproval (PA) to adopt our kiddo! Now that we have pre-approval, we can show you his pictures! His name is Tu Chao Yang, and he is living in Hengyang City Social Welfare Institute in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, People's Republic of China. I have no idea when these pictures were taken, or how old he was when they were taken. I do know that he wears a bow and headband well!! Tu Chao will turn 1 on October 17, and we are working on sending a care package over that hopefully he will receive by his first birthday. We are also working on an English name that will be easier to remember than TuChao! It is interesting that TuChao means "He is super, He is Ultraman" in Chinese.....especially funny when you check out the headband picture!
I know that he is very small- as of a month or so ago (10 months old), he weighed only 14 pounds- more like a 6 month old size. My understanding is that he likely has bottles only with little or no cereal added. I have been emailing with a couple of moms who have recently adopted from this same orphanage, and have been able to get a little bit of information with their help. It appears this orphanage is quite a bit smaller than Lily's in Shantou. Also, this orphanage is divided into two parts. One is government run and the other is run by an international group called ICC. I haven't yet been able to decipher which side he is on, or exactly what difference it makes, but it appears that they are different.
The next step in the process is to wait the typical 2-3 months for the official Letter of Acceptance(LOA) from the Chinese government. In the meantime, we will be filling out lots of paperwork so that when we receive LOA we can immediately sign it and overnight it right back to China, and send a copy to the US side with all that paperwork attached.
Please pray with us that Tu Chao will be safe and that God might heal his heart while he waits to come home. We know that he likely has an 8mm Atrial Septal Defect, and that is considered mild to moderate. We know he is a bit delayed, but likely this is typical orphanage delay. I have read that for every 3 months a child spends institutionalized, they will be behind approximately one month....For instance, you would expect "typical orphange delay" for a 12 month old to be that of a 9 month old. So, this is where we expect Tu Chao would be right about now. Hoping for an update and maybe some more pictures in the next several weeks.
Blessings!
Meredith
We are so excited for yall Meredith!! He is a cutie :)
ReplyDeleteHe is precious! headband is awesome...our referral pics had our boy in pink pants. Sooo excited for yall! praying Gods protection during your wait.
ReplyDeleteHe is so cute! Only a real ultraman can work a head band like that. I am excited for your family. I will be praying for him. Can't wait to meet him!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! He is so handsome! We have a daughter from the same orphanage. The ICC section is for the children with the more severe special needs from what I understand and when they have a bed open up a child with the most need is transferred from the government section to ICC section. Our daughter Faith was in ICC care her entire life. Birth to 2 1/2 years until we picked her up. They also have foster care set up for some of the children. Blessings!
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