one of us who has given birth, and she
says meeting Brodie was not dissimilar
to giving birth to her daughters,
Jessica and Jocelyn – in emotional
terms, if not the physical. She says
“when Jessica (my first) was born, it
took a while to realise she was mine,
and we just sort of stared at each other.
When we met Brodie, he was standing
on the other side of a glass door – he
looked so small and vulnerable, and
again, we just stared at each other!”
I distinctly remember being asked
“so, would you like to meet your
daughter now?” It seemed such a
surreal question, but of course the
answer was “yes, bring her here now!”
Winny remembers there was a lot of
pacing and when someone entered
the room accidentally it made them
all jump. When Ace was brought into
the room “we just started crying, a
lot!” says Winny. Because Charlie was
that much older, Louise and Tim first
visited him at the foster home. “When
we arrived, we rang the doorbell, but
Resources
• Adoptive Families of Hong Kong
• Mother’s Choice
• Po Leung Kuk
• Social Welfare Department
• International Social Services
(for inter-country adoptions)
they were out,” recalls Louise. “Then
this little guy comes round the corner,
smiling and a bundle of energy. We
all went upstairs, and Charlie was told
‘this is your mummy and daddy and
you must call them that.’ It must have
been so strange for him, even though
he knew we were coming.”
We visited Holly at Mother’s
Choice for almost three weeks before
we brought her home for good. The
length of visiting time varies, and
can be longer if the child is older or
there are special circumstances. Once
home with you, there is a six-month
assessment period, where the social
workers will come and visit you every
month. I was terrified the first time,
but all of us agree that the process
here seems so much easier than tales
we have been told of adoption in the
UK, for example. As Emma says, “the
system here is transparent, and they
really want it to work.” Also, because
of the way, perhaps, that Hong Kong
works, there seem to be many families,
in close proximity, that have adopted
children, and everyone is willing to
help if they can. There are so many
families in South Lantau that we have
our own group and Adoptive Families
Hong Kong is a great resource for
anyone considering adoption as a way
of building or extending a family. My
advice is: do your homework, do your
paperwork, and well, just do it!
January 2016
41
