'We have a heart for them', says American adoptive parent

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Encouraged by the success of advocating adoption for Teddy, Michelle Morell changed Teddy's advocacy page to "Meet Teddy's Friend" for Jay.

"Jay knows little English, only a few words. He had a transitional time, but is doing pretty good now," said Michelle Morell. According to her, Jay is a very responsible child. She said he was put in charge of watching over a blind girl and her luggage on the same hosting program during the trip, and he did an admirable job and is good with younger children.

On the advocacy page, Michelle Morell updates Jay's interests and activities. "Today he put together several different circuits and one was quite impressive. He had taken apart a remote control car (with permission) and made a circuit that used the car to power a flashlight bulb. I love science and love the ingenuity of his creation. And his faced just BEAMED when I told him how proud I was of him and how smart he is; maybe he will be an engineer," read a posting on July 30.

With five adopted children and a sixth on the way, Morell admits that just doing hosting is a big change. However, "there are not many chances you can truly change a person's life. In that regard, it is a rewarding experience," she said.

Sometimes hosting can change a family's mind about not adopting. Kyle Raney, a pastor, and his wife Cassandra, a fulltime mother, live in Portland, Oregon. They hosted Duo, now 9, last summer.

The Raneys didn't have money for adoption, but decided to host to help a child. However, "within the first two days, when we watched him playing with our kids in the yard, we felt such peace in our heart and realized that he is supposed to be our son. We could not let him go, we could not imagine our family without him," said Cassandra Raney, whose five biological children with her husband were 2 to 7 years old at the time. They immediately started the adoption process.

When the hosting was over, the Raneys sent Duo back to China with a photo album recording his time in the US. During the adoption process, they did video chat with Duo, sent him care packages of candies and toys a few times. "I was told he looked at the album almost every day at the orphanage, and he was telling everyone that his family in America was coming to get him," said Cassandra Raney.

The hosting helped them to get support to financially pay to adopt Duo: "We introduced Duo to our families and friends. They all fell in love with him and within seven months the adoption was all paid for by friends and families," she said.

Duo returned in June. He has some heart issues and dwarfism. "He is doing a lot of testing and will probably need surgery soon. It's a little scary, and we don't know what the future will hold. We just know that he's our child, and we will do whatever we can to fight for him," said Cassandra Raney.

The Raneys said they would never have adopted an older child if it were not for the hosting program. "It gave us the opportunity to realize that it's wonderful to adopt an older kid, it takes away the fear, and it puts a name to the face," said Cassandra Raney, adding that the experience with Duo has led them to seek the adoption of a 10-year-old Chinese girl, who has cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus and is not part of the hosting program.

The Raneys hope that another Chinese child will also be good for Duo, who has had some bumps adjusting to his new environment. "We will take Duo with us to bring this girl home when the process is completed. We will also use this opportunity to visit his old friends at the orphanage," said Cassandra Raney.

Jeannie Kvanig-Robertson, a school teacher hosting an 11-year-old girl with a mild liver condition in Burton, Texas, also doesn't have the money to adopt, so instead she chose hosting. However, she has fallen in love with the girl she calls Shaynie.

"I watched a video and hers was the first I saw. I thought she's just precious and chose her. I have always had a heart for kids who don't have a family," said Kvanig-Robertson, a single mother with two adult children and a teenager daughter.

Besides doctor checkups, she has taken Shaynie to meet her friends, to a swimming pool and to horseback riding. She said she wants to adopt Shaynie but can't afford the associated adoption fee. "I wish the fee was more affordable," said Kvanig-Robertson, who indicated that she will seek a home for Shaynie if she can't find a way to adopt her.

Contact the writer at mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com