The Unexpected Referral......

Here is the beautiful Vietnamese princess referral photo taken 5/6/08.    Date of birth: 8/10/06 to a single mother who has apparently died.   Her maternal grandfather relinquished her to the orphanage.  


On Friday evening 5/9/08,  Mother's Day Eve,  at around 4:30 PM,  the phone rang.   I saw that it was Commonwealth Adoptions and didn't answer because I was so tired of the constant bad news from them.     I broke down and checked the message and it sounded kind of positive, but nothing in particular was mentioned on the message about a referral.  

When I called back,  Ray Mak,  the Vietnamese program coordinator answered.  He told me that a little girl had become available in Quan Nam province in Danang at the Hoi An orphanage.   At first, I was very negative and skeptical,  and asked him about all of the things that could go wrong.     As we spoke further,  he told me that her dossier was completed and just needed to be sent to the QuanNam Department of Justice.    I almost fainted:)    He said he would email me her photo and medical records later that night.  I anxiously waited by my computer for two hours and nothing came.    I couldn't hold myself back, so I called him.   He said to just give him another 20 minutes which seemed like hours.  

That very night,  I emailed the photo to Dr. Dana Johnson,  a pediatrician specializing in International Adoptions at the University of Minnesota.     She was in her office on a Friday night and emailed me right back!   The princess is in the 90% percentile for weight (18.7#), height (74 cm)  and head circumference,  and might have some skin problems..... no big deal.   

I am still trying to find someone to translate the medical records,  but am told that "all is normal".