Change 4 Orphans

Alex's Notes: This is an excerpt from the website of a young lady who is taking an active role in making the world a little bit of a better place. I encourage you to take a look at her website, and if you feel so inclined, send her a donation to help her accomplish her mission. Website link at the bottom of the post.

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Hi my name is Leah. I live in Colorado. I am 13 and I am in 8th grade. I started this project to help children in Ethiopia. There are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia alone. Many of them live in crowded orphanages, with neighbors, relatives or on the street because their parents are poor, sick, or have died. Some have family but they have no money to feed them or put them in school so they are brought to the orphanages. I decided that I want to start a penny drive and donate the money to help the people. My goal is to get one penny for every orphan in Ethiopia. The orphanages need supplies and medicine and the children have no toys. My family adopted my sister from Ethiopia and that is what helped me with the idea. I have been collecting donations since March 2007.



This is me giving donated $ to the manager Geday at HFTA

We personally delivered the money donated so far to Ethiopia in November 2007. There was $2084.00 collected by the time we traveled to Addis Ababa, ET. Just over $1000.00 went towards putting in a playground at The Hope For The Abandoned Children and Orphan Care Association (HFTA) where my sister lived. They will have red ash placed down to cut down the mud and a merry-go-round for the children to play on. $170 is going towards training an adult orphan to learn how to start a business and support herself. We also purchased basic supplies like diapers and bottles along with medicines and 3 large storage containers to hold clothing. We delivered 6 large duffel bags of donated clothing, shoes, notebooks and crayons directly to the orphanage.

$800.00 went towards community sponsorship of 4 children for a year to attend school, receive a school uniform, school supplies and a meal. These children live with family and I will post their information as soon as I get it. This sponsorship is handled by the Sele Enat Orphanage.

I would like to continue collecting excess change to donate to these places. You can be sure that the money is going directly to help the children. You can check back here for updates.

So, if you have any pennies in your pocket, just think about this:

The reason I chose pennies is because most people when they see a penny on the ground they just walk by it, like they didn't even see it. Most of the world is doing the same thing to the Orphans of Ethiopia. Please don't just walk by them. Make a difference.

PLEASE DONATE YOUR PENNIES TO A GOOD CAUSE!

http://www.change4orphans.com/






China-Babies Research

Strict rules stunt adoptions from China

December 5, 2007
By Lucy Gotell

Chinese adoptions are expected to decline as a result of stricter guidelines that are making it harder for British Columbians to qualify as prospective parents.
British Columbians finding it harder to adopt Chinese Children
Cathy Lopston, spokesperson for Family Services of Greater Vancouver, said the number of applications for China’s international adoption program has decreased since the China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) implemented new guidelines in May.

“I would say most adoption agencies in British Columbia – and there are six of us – most of us have seen a decline,” she said.

The CCAA implemented the guidelines, which exclude singles, people over 50 and others from the program, in response to a soaring number of applications in recent years.

“The new rules will help shorten the waiting time for qualified foreigners and speed up the process for children,” said CCAA director Lu Ying.

Singled out

Eileen Power, mother of an adopted daughter from China, said the impact of being excluded from the program would be “heartbreaking” for those who no longer qualify.

“People that really want a baby that cannot have a baby, it’s very, very difficult,” she said. “I particularly think single parents - for a single woman - to adopt a little girl, and raise that little girl, that is a very special thing.”

Although several people have been ousted from the program, Lobson said single women have been hit the hardest.

“I think the families that were really affected were single women in particular, and definitely couples that have had some health issues.”

Predictability a plus

There are several other countries where prospective parents can go for international adoption, but China’s program has an exceptionally strong reputation. Eamon Duffy, an adoptive father in Vancouver, said he was impressed throughout his experience with China’s program.
Family Services Adopton Agency
“The reason that we had looked at China was that it was a proven model in terms of how adoptions work,” he said.

Another factor in China’s popularity is Vancouver’s multicultural environment, which is thought to be ideal for raising an Asian child.

“Vancouver is a wonderful place to bring up an Asian child if you’re not an Asian family,” Power said. “And just having so many Asian people in the communities really, really does help (the child) see themselves reflected in the community.”

Lobson agrees, and said much of China’s notoriety is due to the fact that Vancouver has such a high population of Chinese families.

“Families I think felt it was a really good place to adopt from because the children that they would adopt would still be connected to their culture.”

Where do we go from here?

Despite the attraction to Chinese adoptions, people’s willingness to go with another program may depend on their determination to become parents.

“Some people feel more comfortable with one culture or another culture…it just depends,” said Power. “But usually people, if they really, really want a child, they will try (to) at least approach some of the other areas. And it may be that if they’re too difficult for them for whatever reason, they may just say, ‘well, I have to look at life differently.’”

Lobson said that some families have given up already.

“I think they felt pretty defeated, pretty deflated,” she said. “I think that some families do look at other options…and then we’ve also had families who’ve given up and just said ‘well, that’s it…I’m not going to be able to adopt.’ Because they’ve really had their heart set on adopting a child from China.”

Last year in B.C., adoptions from China accounted for 80 of a total of 263 international adoptions.

http://thethunderbird.ca/blog/2007/12/05/strict-rules-stunt-adoptions-from-china/





China-Babies Research

Road to adoption frustrating, rewarding

'I feel very close to him; I couldn't ask for anything more'

By Patti Zarling
pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com


Mason Bowers is a smiley, happy 3-month-old baby who doesn't want much more than cuddles, kisses and a warm bottle.


Melissa and Shawn Bowers' road to Mason's adoption has been a long one.


And they are not alone. The 2000 U.S. Census, the first to collect data on adoption, counted 2.1 million adopted children in the U.S. About 1.6 million were younger than the age of 18, representing about 2.5 percent of the total 64.6 million children in the group. In Wisconsin, 30,583 of 1.278 million children younger than age 18 were adopted, about 2.4 percent, according to the census.


The Bowers, of Green Bay, have a 5-year-old son and tried for about three years to have a second child, but couldn't, even with the help of treatments, Melissa said. That's when they considered adoption.


They worked with a pregnant woman who was interested in giving her child to the Bowers, and they paid about six months' worth of doctor bills, rent and other expenses before the woman eventually decided to keep the baby.


"I was done," Melissa said. "It was really devastating. But we just continued … I'm glad we didn't give up."


But they connected with Mason's mom, a 25-year-old woman in Texas, when she was about four months along and kept in touch with frequent phone calls, Melissa said. Mason was born in August, and the couple brought him home about a week later.


His biological mother "knows me, she knows my family, we took her out for lunch," Melissa said. "I still send her pictures. But they say it slows down … I hope for his sake some communication continues."


Melissa said she worried how she would bond with Mason.


"We had a birth child," she said. "And I knew how close I was with Maxwell. … I wondered, 'Am I going to have the same feelings? Will I bond with the baby?'


"But it was almost a lot of wasted energy. I feel very close to him. I couldn't ask for anything more."


And Maxwell is proving to be a proud big brother.


"He plays with him all the time," Melissa said. "He says 'Go to Texas and get your own baby.' He just laughs whenever he sees him."


The average adoption takes about a year and costs between $18,000 and $25,000, according to Kim Garner, president of Wisconsin-based Community Adoption Center Inc. Expenses vary depending on the medical and personal costs adoptive parents may need to pay for the birth mother and travel expenses.


A low-end independent adoption might cost $10,000, Garner said, while international adoptions can range from $20,000 to $40,000.


Melissa said the Bowers considered adopting a foreign baby, but she wanted a newborn. They also worried about difficulties bringing home a foreign baby and traveling overseas with a small child at home.


Overall, foreign adoptions have fallen about 15 percent in the last two years, according to State Department figures for fiscal 2007.


While foreign adoptions may be on a downturn in the U.S., experts say domestic adoptions are going strong.


Although adoptions from countries such as China and Guatemala might be dipping, those from other nations, like Ethiopia, are on the rise, Garner said. Her organization handles all sorts of adoptions: independent, in which parents already know the birth mother, domestic, international and special needs.


In Wisconsin, birth mothers lose their rights in two to three weeks; one of the reasons the Bowers chose San Antonio is because in Texas the mother loses those rights within 48 to 72 hours.


"I think there's always a fear of the unknown and also a fear of the birth mother changing her mind," Garner said.


Once a family brings home the baby, Garner's agency remains the guardian of the child for six months.


After at least three home visits, the adoption is finalized in court.


Garner encourages families to be open-minded and flexible when adopting.


"There's more mixed race babies than healthy Caucasian babies," she said. "But there are still quite a few babies out there."


The Bowers plan to be open with Mason about his adoption.


"Obviously, he doesn't look like us," she said about her Hispanic son. "We'll tell him, 'You didn't grow in my tummy, but in my heart.'"

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071206/GPG0101/712060647/1206/GPGnews






China-Babies Research

Visiting Xiao-Ling's former orphanage in China

Alex's Notes: Interesting blog entry from a couple on the ground in China. They have some great pictures at the original entry, link at the bottom of the post.

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Visiting the Orphanage

At breakfast this morning and driving around Sanya, we became well aware that this is not just a resort town for Chinese nationals, but for Russians as well. Half the signs around our hotel are in Cyrillic, as well as a lot of signs in town. We saw Russians everywhere, and the most complicated Russian word I know is "мороженое" - ice cream. Not very useful. So we may not be the only Caucasians in town, but it's probably be a safe bet that we're the only Americans.

But today's big event is that we visited Xiao-Ling's former orphanage this morning, where she spent much of her early life. Meeting some of her friends and the "aunties" who cared for her, the visit was bittersweet to say the least.

As we went from room to room, meeting kids our daughter's age to younger kids to infants, I was overwhelmed by conflicting emotions. Sadness that anyone should have to go to an orphanage in the first place got all mixed up with relief that it was a good place as orphanages go, as well as a million other feelings. Looking at the kids abandoned for a whole slew of reasons, I found myself sobbing with a loving desire to adopt every single one of them, and sobbing with the realization that we can't. My head knew perfectly well what we could and could not realistically do, but my heart still had a ways to go.

After Jacquie mopped me up and my heart caught up with my head, the orphanage staff took us to lunch at a restaurant in Sanya. This was most definitely not the sort of restaurant frequented by tourists who play it safe from a culinary sense. No, this was real Sanya cuisine, and we were made aware of that fact right out front.


Yes, those are real fish in real fish tanks, which diners pick out individually. Our hosts selected a red snapper, which was cooked and brought to our table thusly:


On the one hand, the fish was delicious. On the other hand, it wouldn't stop looking at me. I swear it had a reproachful look on its face, telling us, "Why me? I have a wife and guppies at home."

The rest of lunch was face-free and ranged from a papaya soup to a tasty green vegetable to a rich beef-with-peppers mix, not to mention several other dishes. It was only when we were stuffed like geese that the meal ended.

We made a good impression on the staff - they see clearly that we love our daughter very much and would help all the children there if we could. I like to think we helped the cause of Chinese adoption today.

And finally - Happy Chanukah from China!

http://bringingxiaolinghome.blogspot.com/2007/12/visiting-orphanage.html






China-Babies Research

Foreign Adoptions in U.S. Drop

By DAVID CRARY

NEW YORK (AP) — The number of foreign children adopted by Americans has dropped for the third year in a row, a consequence of tougher policies in the two countries — China and Russia — that over the past decade have supplied the most children to U.S. families.

Figures for the 2007 fiscal year, provided by the State Department on Friday, showed that adoptions from abroad have fallen to 19,411, down about 15 percent in just the past two years.

It's a dramatic change. The number of foreign adoptions had more than tripled since the early 1990s, reaching a peak of 22,884 in 2004 before dipping slightly in 2005, then falling to 20,679 in 2006.

"A drop in international adoptions is sad for children," said Thomas Atwood, president of the National Council for Adoption. "National boundaries and national pride shouldn't get in the way of children having families."

Adoptions from China, the No. 1 source country since 2000, fell to 5,453. That's down by 1,040 from last year and well off the peak of 7,906 in 2005. Two main factors lie behind this: an increase in domestic adoptions as China prospers and tighter restrictions on foreign adoptions that give priority to stable married couples between 30 and 50 and exclude single people, the obese and others with financial or health problems.

One consequence, adoption agencies say, is that the waiting time to complete an adoption from China has more than doubled to 24 months or more.

Adoptions from Russia also dropped sharply over the past year — from 3,706 to 2,310. Russian authorities suspended the operations of all foreign adoption agencies for several months earlier this year and have been reaccrediting them only gradually. Like China, Russia has been trying to boost the number of domestic adoptions.

U.S. adoptions from South Korea and Haiti also declined significantly, although the overall drop was partially offset by large increases in adoptions from Guatemala (up from 4,135 to 4,728), Ethiopia (732 to 1,255) and Vietnam (163 to 626).

Tom DeFilipo, president of the Joint Council on International Children's Services, said adoptions from Guatemala could decline over the coming year as its government — under intense international pressure — tries to impose tough new regulations on an adoption industry that was widely viewed as susceptible to fraud and extortion.

The State Department has advised Americans not to initiate adoption applications for Guatemala while that overhaul is under way. The proposed reforms are required under an international adoption treaty, the Hague Convention, which both Guatemala and the United States have agreed to adhere to starting next year.

Overall, DeFilipo — whose council represents many international adoption agencies — found reason for optimism in the new statistics.

"What you're seeing is fewer countries sending very large numbers of children and a broader range of countries participating," he said. "Over the long term, I think this is a healthy trend."

He mentioned Kenya, Peru and Brazil as countries not now among the major sources of children, but which might increase international adoptions in coming years.

Michele Bond, deputy assistant secretary of state for overseas citizen services, also viewed the new figures positively.

"Interest in intercountry adoption remains very strong," she said in a telephone interview. "People are increasingly well-informed. They're more likely to look at new countries instead of always looking at the same small number of countries."

By contrast, another adoption expert, Harvard law professor Elizabeth Bartholet, depicted the new numbers as "totally depressing."

She said China and Russia reflected a trend in which countries opened themselves up to international adoption, then scaled back. She attributed this in part to UNICEF and other international organizations encouraging countries to care for children within their homeland, even when domestic programs such as foster care might be inadequate.

"UNICEF is a major force," Bartholet said. "They've played a major role in jumping on any country sending large number of kids abroad, identifying it as a problem rather than a good thing."

UNICEF's child protection spokesman, Geoffrey Keele, said the U.N. agency does believe it is preferable to care for orphaned or abandoned children in their own countries if good homes could be found for them.

"The best interests of the child must be the guiding principle," he said. "We don't go about discouraging international adoption. We just want to be sure it's done properly."

Thomas Atwood, of the National Council for Adoption, said there should be no competition between domestic and international adoption. With an estimated 143 million orphans worldwide, he said, there was enough need to go around.

For U.S.-based adoption agencies, the biggest impact has been on those specializing in placing children from China.

The president of one of the largest such groups, Joshua Zhong of Colorado-based Chinese Children Adoption International, said the agency had placed about 620 children this year, down from about 1,200 in 2005, while average waiting times had increased from nine months to two years.

Some clients are so committed to adopting a Chinese child that they are willing to wait, Zhong said. "Others say forget about it."

For the second straight year, no Romanian children were adopted by Americans. The Eastern European country, which provided 1,119 children to U.S. families in 2000, has banned adoptions by foreigners, except for relatives.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hpcgfbD11-q-IduwC31ZJH6O0FrgD8T884SO0





China-Babies Research

Cute Story and Pictures at Meng Zi Orphanage

This entry was posted over at Oriental Observations blog. There are a ton of cute pictures you can find at the original blog, there is a link at the bottom of this post.

Meng Zi Orphanage



Last year, when Katie and I visited the Rices, we were able to spend some time at the orphanage in Meng Zi. When we got to the Rices house this year, we were excited to be able to go back to the orphanage. Several of the babies and toddlers that we played with last year have been adopted and Victoria has been able to be in touch with the adoptive parents. It's so amazing to see how the lives of those orphans were revolutionized by adoption. From a run-down, poor orphanage in southern China to a comfortable life in America with closets full of clothes and shoes and loving parents. I think this is such a wonderful picture of what our true Father does for us. Lots of the children we played with last year are still there and they seem to have quite a few more babies there now than they did when we were there before. Brian and Victoria told us that their family planned to go to the orphanage on Friday and help decorate a Christmas tree for the kids. Brian's mom had sent boxes of hand-made toys and ornaments for us to pass out and use at the orphanage. What a fun and rewarding experience.


Pictures and Blog Link





China-Babies Research

She reminds me of the most important thing

Jan Risher

Five years ago this weekend, my husband and I were in China meeting the newest member of our family. In adoption circles, our Saturday anniversary is called Gotcha Day. In honor of little Piper, our resident 5-year-old, we planned a party, invited friends and loved ones to celebrate with us.
Though we had nothing to do with the appropriateness of Piper's Gotcha Day, November happens to be Adoption Awareness Month. As an adoptive parent, I'll readily admit that I've learned a lot since expanding our family through the miracle of adoption.


I've learned from our daughter. I've learned from other adoptive parents. And, I've learned from other adopted children. But there's another essential and obvious, though often unrecognized, link in the adoption circle of love - the birth mother. In our case, she is the link we know the least about.

As her daughter, and mine, continues to grow into the amazing little human she is, I wonder and admire more and more about this woman - this mystery, I will never understand or know, but to whom I will always be grateful.
Piper wonders about her too.

She readily tells us that she misses her birth mother. She often talks about how she would like to visit her hometown and see her birth mother.

Strangely enough, a movie seems to have given Piper more peace about her situation than anything I've been able to tell her or explain. The movie is Prince of Egypt. It's the story of Moses. She had heard the Bible story long ago, but it's the movie and its music that resonate most with this little girl.

I began to recognize its impact on Piper after her repeated references to "my people."

Then came the questions - the questions she used to connect the dots between her story and Moses' story.

"Why did they put him in the basket, Mom?" she would ask.

"His mother knew he could have a better life with them, didn't she, Mom?" she would continue.

Moses' story has given Piper more consolation than I ever could on my own. She and I chatted about my writing this column. I asked her if there was anything she thought people ought to know about adoption.

"Babies are more important than other things," she said. "I just think you should love all your babies the most."

Then she did what she does best.

She said, "But I think you need to write about happy things in The Daily Advertiser."

And with that, she got off my lap and started singing a song she had composed on the spot.

Which led to dancing.

Which led to a full-blown performance and show, complete with bows and flourishes.

In short, she reminded me that although she and other internationally and domestically adopted children are representative of some of the world's major political, economic and social dilemmas, she is - first and foremost - just a kid.

A kid I happen to love with all my heart.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071125/LIFESTYLE/711250347/1024/LIFESTYLE





China-Babies Research

Number of Foreign adoptions from China fall

More Chinese couples have started to adopt Chinese babies, which may eventually bring an end to Americans adopting children from the country.
By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY

BEIJING — Chinese couples are adopting in growing numbers, a trend that could eventually sever the pipeline that has sent up to 75,000 Chinese orphans, mostly girls, to new homes in the USA since 1992.
Researchers in China say local data and anecdotal evidence show what sketchy national statistics don't: that record numbers of Chinese are adopting.

Foreign adoptions are an embarrassment to the government, says Pi Yijun, a scholar at the China University of Politics and Law. "Even researchers do not get the national figures, only local numbers. (The government) strictly controls data like this, and the total number of adoptions is very secret."


NEW TREND: China shedding adoption stigma, may tighten rules

China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, which oversees adoptions, confirms that foreign adoptions peaked in 2005 and are declining.

"It is partly because there are less children who (are abandoned and) can be adopted, and partly because the volume of domestic adoptions has risen," says Wang Suying, a ministry official.

The surge in domestic adoptions coincides with tighter rules for Americans and other foreigners looking to adopt Chinese children.

In May, China moved to disqualify foreign applicants who are single, overweight or older than 50. At the same time, the backlog of foreign applications in Beijing has grown to more than two years and prompted some to pull out.

Some Americans "are moving to other options or deciding that adoption wasn't in the cards for them," says Joni Garner, mother of two adopted Chinese girls and case manager for AAC Adoption and Family Network in Berthoud, Colo.

Why Chinese are adopting:

•Growing affluence: As many as 250 million of China's 1.3 billion people are part of a growing middle class. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says 40% of Chinese will be middle class by 2020.

"Better economic conditions mean more Chinese are able to bear the financial burden," says Ji Gang, director of domestic adoptions at the China Center of Adoption Affairs, a government agency.

•Changing attitudes: Deep-rooted prejudices against taking in children who aren't blood relatives have begun to fade, as have historic biases against girls.

"The importance of continuing the family line is eroding as China modernizes," says Hung Huang, a Beijing publisher who adopted a girl last year. "Traditionally, Chinese felt that orphans signaled shame."

•Empty nesters: Urban couples, restricted to a single child by a 3-decade-old law, are adopting after their natural children reach adulthood and leave home.

"People want to have more than one child but cannot under the family-planning policy," Ji says. "Adopting or fostering gives them a way."

Booming interest in domestic adoptions has given rise to a loosely regulated market for infants. Websites such as Orphan Net offer forums for prospective parents.

Wang Hongbin, a lighting salesman in eastern Anhui province, says he and his wife posted an ad for a daughter on Orphan Net after unsuccessful fertility treatments.

He says they are willing to pay up to $1,400 to adopt a healthy child — a huge sum in a country where the government puts the average annual wage at $2,296.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-11-20-chinaadopt_N.htm





China-Babies Research

Sandi and Hannah - Lansing Journal

Red tape cut, Lansing mom to return home with daughter
Adoption complicated by husband's death in China

Mike Hughes
Lansing State Journal


A Lansing woman's bureaucratic tangle has been resolved.

Sandi Sheldon is expected home from China today with her new daughter, Hannah, and the cremated remains of her husband, Dennis.

U.S. officials held up Hannah's visa for several days after Dennis Sheldon died while in China. But pressure from the public and congressional leaders forced the government to expedite the process.

"Everyone has been on the phone to make this happen," said Darlene Hill, Sandi Sheldon's mother.

That included the adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services, and the offices of U.S. representatives Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, and Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids.

"We've dealt with a number of complicated issues involving immigration," said Sylvia Warner, Rogers' spokeswoman. "But never one this complicated - or this heart-rending."

Dennis Sheldon, 46, was head custodian at Pleasant View Elementary Magnet School in Lansing and was a natural for parenthood, said the school's principal, Madeline Shanahan.

"There were a number of children ... he went to extra trouble to bond with," she said. "He was absolutely thrilled when the adoption came through."

The school staff surprised him shortly before the couple left for China with a breakfast and an all-diapers baby shower. On Oct. 30, the Sheldons went to Guangzhou (formerly Canton), finalizing their adoption of Hannah, who is about 18 months old.

Dennis Sheldon died there. Hill said he died Nov. 12 apparently from heart failure, possibly aggravated by diabetes.

The complication that delayed Sandi Sheldon's return to the United States came from the U.S. Citizen Immigration Service, said John VanValkenburg of Bethany.

Hannah's papers were no longer accurate, he said, because they listed both Sandi and Dennis. "In a situation where circumstances change, that requires a change in everything else."

Friends and other adoptive parents flooded officials with phone calls. Rogers' office worked with the Immigration Service.

"We were able to persuade them to expedite the process," Warner said.

Late Thursday night, there was word that it soon would be worked out. Hill received news shortly after midnight that her daughter was coming home; Rogers received an official fax at about 4 a.m.

During that time, Hill said, false rumors developed. There were no complications from Chinese officials, and the cremation was not required.

"That was something that Dennis and Sandi always said they wanted," Hill said.

Dennis and Sandi Sheldon were married for 19 years, and Hannah is their first child, said Hill, who lives in Lansing with her husband, Herbert, and is now the grandmother of 13 children.

Sandi, 42, works part time at a Wal-Mart store, and Hill granted that money could be tight. Donations may be sent by check to Hope For Hannah, Fifth Third Bank, 6446 S. Cedar St., Lansing, MI 48911.

Contact Mike Hughes at 377-1156 or mhughes@lsj.com.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071117/NEWS01/711170337/1001/news

Sandi and Hannah Cleared to Come Home

Lansing woman OK'd to return home with adopted Chinese daughter
By JAMES PRICHARD | Associated Press Writer
2:39 PM CST, November 16, 2007

A woman whose husband unexpectedly died in China while they were there to pick up their newly adopted daughter is expected to return home Saturday with the child, a spokeswoman for a Michigan congressman says.

Sylvia Warner said Friday that Sandi and Dennis Sheldon of Lansing, Mich., left for China on Oct. 30 to get the 17-month-old girl, whom they named Hannah. They originally had planned to return home this Saturday.

But only days after the adoption process was completed, Dennis Sheldon suddenly died. The family was told that he apparently suffered heart failure, said Darlene Hill, Sandi Sheldon's mother.

Because the family's status had changed and Sandi Sheldon had become a single mother, the U.S. consulate in China told her that she could not leave that country with the toddler until new family-status paperwork had been filed. The process normally takes weeks.

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers and his staff learned of the situation on Thursday, when they were inundated with e-mails and more than 500 telephone calls from an online adoption community that knew what was happening.

The authors of several adoption Web logs that were following the situation posted telephone numbers for the offices of Rogers, other elected officials and various government agencies, encouraging readers to ask them for help.

Rogers, a Brighton Republican, called the consulate late that evening -- first thing in the morning in China -- and worked out a resolution that involved fast-tracking the filing of the proper paperwork.

"Through the congressman's call to them and that ensuing discussion, they were able to move the process along," said Warner, his spokeswoman.

Rogers' office was notified around 4 a.m. Friday that Sheldon, who had been staying in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, was cleared to return home with her daughter, Warner said.

Dennis and Sandi Sheldon were married for 19 years and Hannah is their first child, said Hill, who lives in Lansing with her husband, Herbert, and is now the grandmother of 13 children. Sandi, 42, works part time at a Wal-Mart store and Dennis, 46, was a custodian for Lansing Public Schools.

Hill said family members, while still grieving their loss, were excited to learn that Hannah will accompany her new mother home.

"We got that news about 12:30 last night," Hill said Friday. "It's the best telephone call we've had in two weeks."

The Sheldons applied to adopt a child from China through Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Bethany Christian Services, one of the nation's largest adoption agencies. The process usually takes two to two-and-a-half years, said John Van Valkenburg, a Bethany spokesman.

He called the pending homecoming a "bittersweet time" for the Sheldon family.

"We are very ecstatic that both mother and daughter are able to return home and join the rest of the family," Van Valkenburg said. "At the same time, our hearts and prayers go out to them for the loss of a father, husband and son."

Dennis Sheldon's body was cremated in China and his ashes were returning home with his widow, Hill said. A memorial service for him will take place Nov. 30 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Lansing.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-ap-mi-chineseadoption,1,4153401.story