Found

A year ago today, a mother took her 20-day-old baby girl to a public place in the Guandu District of Kunming, and placed her daughter where she would quickly be found. According to Virginia Grace's records, "On December 15, 2008, the child was picked up by police after being found and reported by common people. After investigation by the local police station confirmed she was an abandoned baby, she was sent to the Kunming City Children's Welfare Institute." Until we meet with the orphanage director, we will not know whether she was left with a note, as some children are.

Over the last couple of years, I've read several stories written by adoptive mothers and fathers who have imagined what it must have been like for the birth mother or father to leave their child. If you aren't familiar with Chinese laws, cultural norms, and economic difficulties of various provinces, it's easy to judge the actions and the hearts of these parents. In fact, placing their children to be found has quite possibly been the greatest act of love that some of these mothers could have performed.

I started to write my own imaginative account of what happened this day a year ago, but at this point, I am too emotional to go that deep. So I have posted a link to a beautiful and poignant story written by another adoptive mom. I think it will help you understand the heartwrenching decisions and the incredible strength involved in leaving a child forever.

We are so grateful our Guan Xue Hua was found quickly. We wish that she could know and understand that her forever parents have been found too. In time...