All about Sophie Xian

Some people have asked questions about Sophie.....here is what I know:

She was presumably born 4/1/06. She was found abandoned 4/2/06. She was born in Jiangxi Province in China. She is currently in the care of the Yujiang Social Welfare Institute. She may, or may not, be in, or have been in, foster care at some point. The SWI maintains that all the babies are in the orphanage, but many parents find out later they were in foster care for months at a time. I see pluses or minuses in either scenerio, so I try not to worry about it too much at this point. Sophie's Chinese name is Wang Xiang Xian. The characters in her given names mean "fragrant fairy (or immortal being)". This suggests that she must have been a pixie-like, good-smelling baby when she was found. She is a very petite girl, I have two sets of measurements for her from 4 months and 9 months. She was always at or below the 10% in all measurements. Sophie's adoption is considered "special needs," as she is blind in one eye. I have no other information about her condition, except "blind in one eye." It was most likely a simple birth defect. She is described at healthy and developmentally on-target in other areas. She is also described as a "smart," "quiet" girl who "likes to be held." At nine months, she was standing up in a baby walker and babbling, according to reports. When she comes home, she will need surgery and treatment over a few months to eventually fit her for an eye prosthesis. I already have appointments made for her to be evaluated at CHOP when I get home from China.

I first "met" Sophie on Christmas Eve 2006, when I came across her picture on a "Waiting Child" list on the internet. Waiting children are those who are considered special needs adoptions because of age or medical issues. I thought she was beautiful and that she looked like she was supposed to be my daughter. I couldn't stop looking at her picture, crawling out of bed every few minutes to turn the computer on again, thinking, "can I really do this??" Everything since then has fallen into place perfectly and miraculously. I feel so lucky to have found her and to have had a quick and easy process. At this time, single-parent adoptions are no longer allowed in China, we got in just under the wire. Those who have dossiers logged in previously are waiting two to three yeares for their referrals. I got off very easy for an international adoption. The process was complicated, but not impossible. My agency is Children's Home Society and Family Services in MN, I highly recommend them, they've been great! I will finally hold Sophie Xian in my arms on August 5, 2007. She will be sixteen m0nths. Her sister Olivia is three-and-a-half, and sooooo ready to be a big sister. Oh, and Xian is pronounced (shee-en). She is probably called "Xian-Xian" by her caregivers, so I will use that as a nickname, too.