Two years ago today, I saw this face for the first time. I had gotten on the A Helping Hand website to pay our home study update fee when I just happened to check on the "Special Delivery" link. We were clients of America World with AHH doing our home study. We were on the NSN route, but 3 months prior we had filled out a check-list for SN. When I saw Claire's face I instantly knew that she was our daughter. I recognized her for a lack of a better term. I immediately called James and told him to look at the website and to pray about her and to please not let her SN scare him away. Claire had been diagnosed at less than 5 months with a tumor in her mediastinal cavity. He called me back in just a few minutes and said let's go get her! It was too late to call AHH and I couldn't sleep that night worrying about her! I called first thing the next morning and got the ball rolling on us being able to be considered to adopt her. The committee at AHH allowed us to submit our LOI and we were one of the last families that China allowed to have two agencies work together to bring our child home. When we got home with Claire, we saw her doctor one week later. They did a chest x-ray and we waited in the office while her doctor was on the phone with the pediatric radiologist. She was talking to the radiologist and smiling and giving us the "thumbs up" sign. Claire's x-ray was 100% clear and she is 100% healthy. We have been blessed beyond measure!
