Welcome to the Web Page for
My Daughter
Mei Ling Reynolds


Mei Ling's referral picture . . .

Mei Ling Reynolds was born February 13, 1997 in Pingshun County in the Province of Hebei. She spent the first 26 months of her life at the Shijiazhuang Welfare Institute as Shi, Chun Ling. We first met at the International Hotel on April 5, 1999 In Shijiazhuang, China. She became my daughter on April 6. We traveled back to the United States on April 15 and now reside in Alexandria, Virginia. She is the light of my life.

THIS IS OUR STORY

I don't really remember when I decided I wanted to adopt from China. I think it may have been back in 1995. I know I received a newsletter about foreign adoptions from my friend, Beverly, who would later travel to China with me to bring my beautiful, sweet daughter, Mei Ling, home. The cover of the newsletter had a picture of a Caucasian family with two beautiful adopted Asian children. Maybe that was the moment.

What I do remember is that a coworker's brother and sister-in-law were in the process of adopting from China. When Patrick's brother returned from China, I was privileged to view the videos of the trip. The idea of my adopting from China continued to grow in my heart. I met Deanna on video when she was six months old. She was adopted in the winter and the first frame of her on film shows such a beautiful face with the rosiest cheeks. During the next three years I was able to watch her grow up on video, until my friend moved away. Before he left, however, my pursuit of adopting my own child was well in the works.

I began the process by speaking with Patrick's brother's wife and received suggestions on how to proceed. I contacted several adoption agencies in the local area as my decision became more and more definite. One, World Child International sent me a video on International Adoptions. As I watched it, again my heart melted.

World Child gave me the names of several adoptive parents whom I might contact. One reference I called was an older single mother, which is what I would be if I continued the process. When I called her, the phone was answered by her daughter. I believe she was about three. The sound of that sweet little voice on the other end of the line brought tears to my eyes. While I spoke with her mother, I could hear the child in the background, laughing and sounding so happy.

Next I attended an adoption information meeting, sponsored by World Child, open to all people considering adoption. I remember feeling self-conscious when I entered the room because I was single and older, 51 years old to be exact. Just how sane was this decision? At the conclusion of the meeting, I spoke with one of the Social Workers and told her of my interest. Shortly thereafter, I met with Cheryl Hinkle of Lutheran Family Services to begin the home study process.

I remember how nervous I was when she first came over. Nothing was out of place, down to the food in the refrigerator. I wasn't sure just how far they checked. To my great surprise and relief the meeting was painless and actually enjoyable. Mary Chamberlain conducted the final three interviews -- again my fears were greater than the actual event turned out to warrant

Things went well. The investigation process began with Lutheran Family Services in late December of 1997 (Mei Ling was 10 months old then and waiting in China). I was approved to become an adoptive parent in June of 1998.

While the home study was conducted, I gathered and had authenticated all the necessary documents required to complete my dossier. I completed the "Paper Trail" process by July 3, 1998 and my dossier of documents went to China on July 6. Now I was invisibly pregnant and waiting.

The magic day of delivery was Chinese New Year, February 16, 1999 at 6:45 p.m. The phone rang. It was Susan Schoerin of World Child on the phone telling me this was "The Call." I was in bed at the time sick with a cold. As soon as I got off the phone I started to feel better. The first thing I did was go out on the Internet with an email to all my friends and relatives on line and give them the good news. It was quite a moment of joy.

The next day Susan sent Mei Ling's photo to me as an email attachment. That is the photo you see at the top of the web page. I watched that picture download. First I saw the top of her head, then two little eyebrows, two little eyes, a tiny little nose, the cutest mouth, a dimple and a sweet little chin. What a beautiful child! I felt truly lucky.

I also received her medical report. She was healthy. She weighed 25 pounds and was 32 inches tall.

Mei Ling had just had her second birthday on February 13 and was waiting for me at the Shijiazhuang Welfare Institute 190 miles south of Beijing. She was a northern china girl.

I traveled everywhere with her referral picture, to church, to work, to the Chinese New Year's celebration in China Town.

Life from the time of referral to time of travel was very busy. There were immunizations to complete, shopping for a really big suit case, final baby proofing of the house and of course travel plans.

We received our approval to travel to China shortly after our referral. Once we had approval from the Chinese government, we contacted Delight Travel and had "Gary" book our flights and hotel accommodations. The big day for departure to China would be March 30. Beverly and I would fly out of Reagan Washington National Airport on that day and arrive in China on March 31. Our plan was to arrive early ñ I was scheduled to meet Mei Ling in Shijiazhuang on April 5 ñ recover from jet lag and do some sightseeing in Beijing.

I vividly remember landing in China and being scared. Nobody looked like me anymore. I stood out. I was in a Communist country, a country we have fragile relations with. Dear God, please get us through this safely.

We were meet at the airport by Delight Travel's Beijing connection and where taken to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza which turned out to be in the heart of Beijing. We were within walking distance of everything ñ Tiananmen Square (which was closed for repairs), the Forbidden City, and a Catholic Church which we attended on that Sunday, which happened to be Easter Sunday.

We went everywhere, in and around Beijing. We climbed the Great Wall, visited the Summer Palace as well as the Ming Tombs. We even had Beijing Duck. Every day was filled with at least eight hours of walking and climbing countless numbers of stairs. There are no elevators at these tourist sites. We visited one of the largest Friendship Stores (for tourists) plus toured the China Medical Center for Herbal Medicine. Beijing was quite an adventure, but the real adventure was about to begin as we left Beijing by train on the morning of April 5 to go to Shijiazhuang.

As I mentioned there are no elevators in China. We arrived at the train station, me with the largest suitcase in the world, and before me was the Great Wall of China that I must descend to get to the train platform. I did manage to devise a way to slide the suitcase down the stairs to its destination but it was definitely a challenging moment.

We had been spoiled in Beijing. All the signs have English subtitles. Why would it be different anywhere else in China? As we got further into the countryside on our train trip, the English subtitles stopped. And guess what else we learned, not everyone spoke English either. We also had neglected to find out, before departing, how many stops down the track was Shijiazhuang. Oh My!!!

Traveling on the train with Beverly and me was another couple, also adopting from Shijiazhuang. We got out our travel books and found the Chinese characters for Shijiazhuang. We began matching those characters to the railroad signs along the way. Finally four stops down the track, and one hour earlier than we had expected to arrive, we found a match.

Bravely, we got off the train. More stairs, this time to go up. Upon exiting, one of the station managers called us back. He wanted to see all our tickets. My heart was in my throat. Where was my ticket? Who saves tickets after the conductor on the train has seen them. I, as did everyone else found their ticket stubs and we were allowed to leave.

We exited the train station to a very lively and colorful city. Shijiazhuang, located about 190 miles southwest of Beijing, is the capital of Hebei. Railway construction starting in the early 1900s turned this once rural town into a major city. The city also hosts China's top military officer training school. I was nervous because again, we were the only Caucasians in sight, we spoke no Chinese, and I was carrying a great deal of money on me.

We found the taxi cab station and showed our driver a paper with the Chinese characters on it that said International Hotel. She seemed to understand and knew where we wanted to go. Reluctantly, I got in a cab about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. My suitcase barely fit in the trunk, which had to be left open. So here we are traveling, I hope to our hotel, with my suitcase readily available for anyone to remove and run with whenever we stopped at a traffic light. Turns out Shijiazhuang is not like New York City.

The International Hotel was about ten minutes from the train station. We arrived safe and sound without any difficulties, except trying to figure out how much to pay the cab driver.

Once inside the hotel, we once again learned how spoiled we had become in Beijing. The desk clerks spoke little English and we spoke even less Chinese. With the excitement and anticipation of finally meeting my daughter, check-in seemed to take forever. Having checked in we still had time before Mei Ling was to arrive. We had wonderful fried rice and tea in the hotel restaurant. The best Chinese food we had in China was at the International Hotel. The service was truly amazing. The waitresses hovered around you for what was probably about an eighty-cent meal. Every time we took a sip of tea the teacup was refilled.

Finally we returned to our room and began to unpack. I remember when I first walked into the hotel room and saw the crib for Mei Ling. I think that was the first moment that all of this became real to me. I was soon going to become a mother. Was I really ready for all this? Could I handle it as a single woman?

The phone rang shortly after we began to settle in and it was Xuilan, our trip coordinator. The babies were in the hotel and on their way up. Oh my goodness this was real!!!!

There were two other couples in our group also adopting from the same orphanage. We were all now out in the hall waiting for the elevator doors to open. And then they did. Out came two crying infants of 11 months and one toddler of 26 months. Mei Ling was being carried by the Director of the Welfare Institute. She was gorgeous, big brown eyes and those beautiful rosy cheeks.

The Director tried to hand her to me and Mei Ling began to cry. He took her back and she stopped. The other two couples were holding their babies. I had expected Mei Ling to cry when she met me, given her age. My plan was to take it slow and hope that she would eventually, willingly come to me.

We all left the hotel to go to the Bureau of Civil Affairs to begin the required paperwork. The Director was carrying Mei Ling and I was sitting next to the two of them in the car on the trip there. We were at the Bureau of Civil Affairs for about two hours and I was amazed to find that Mei Ling warmed up to me in such a short time and fearlessly left with me to spend the night in our hotel room. What a brave little girl.


Mei Ling and Baba at the Bureau of Civil Affairs . . .

Now I really was a mother. How do I care for her? What does she eat? What does she like?

The first night Mei Ling was a real champ. When we took her back to the room, we began to get her ready for bed. She had on, as do all children adopted from China, layers and layers of clothing. She had been dressed in a very pretty heavy knit yellow sweater with little bears designs on the front of it and had on pink wide-wale corduroy jeans. That was the top layer. Under that she had on the traditional split pants, and under that a blue and white tee shirt, under the tee shirt was a pink sweat shirt that read "Wild Flowers in the Spring Time." Mei Ling's given name was "Chun Ling." Chun means Spring in English. (When they dressed her, had they specifically picked a shirt with "Spring", her name on it or was that just a coincidence?) She had on orange socks and red suede shoes. With each layer of clothes removed she cried.

Both Mei Ling and all her clothes were immaculate. Her hair was in a boyish haircut. Her nails were clipped and manicured.

I placed her in her crib with her sippy cup and she quickly fell off to sleep. The next morning she had breakfast in bed. I was anxious to check her "Pamper's Pullup." When I did, I discovered – nothing. It had been a good 15 or more hours that she had been with me and she had not gone to the bathroom. Apparently she was toilet trained, but when I placed on the toilet she cried, and didn't relieve herself, so I quickly stopped. What were the magic words I could say to make her go?

We went back to the Bureau of Civil Affairs to complete the adoption. The Director met with each of the families and told them all the personal information they had about each child. For Mei Ling he mentioned how she was his favorite and how he tried to hold her at least once every day. It was very apparent that there was a bond between them. Mei Ling had been brought to the orphanage when she was three days old. She was named Chun by the Director because it was "Spring" when she was found and "Ling" because she was and is "Sharp, Clever, Bright and Intelligent."

I was chastised twice by the Director that morning. First because I forgot to wash her face before I brought her in. You could see sleep in her eyes. Second because I had bunny slippers on her feet not shoes. They promptly washed her face for me before we left.

Our paper work complete, we returned to the hotel and went out shopping and sightseeing with our new babies. First I went to a large department store to buy Mei Ling shoes. Then we toured a local park near our hotel. It was Mei Ling's first outing in a stroller. At first she was apprehensive because I was behind her. Once she discovered if she looked up she could see me, she checked constantly and would let no one else but me "Baba" push her. Crossing the streets in China without a stroller is dangerous. With a stroller you pray to your guardian angel the whole time. It's a little like trying to cross in front of the traffic leaving Logan Airport in Boston.

The night before we left Shijiazhuang for Guangzhou, we had a surprise visit from the Director. All the parents did. Mei Ling was in her crib ready for bed. She was coloring – the book and the sheets. There as a knock at the door and Beverly went to get it. Mei Ling recognized the voice and became very excited. She was leaning over her crib pointing and trying to get my attention. She knew who it was. The Director went to pick her up and she started to cry and didn't want to go to him. She stopped crying when he handed back to me. I was her mother now. I am sure it was a bitter sweet moment for him.

The next day we were scheduled to depart for Guangzhou. By this time I was extremely exhausted. I sleep like a log at home, but was not sleeping well in China. My mind was always a whir with some concern, real or imagined. I would regularly get up at two or three o'clock in the morning and not be able to fall back asleep.

Neither Beverly nor I are drinkers, but we both started drinking Tsingtao beer to help us relax. We first discovered it when it was served with Chinese food on one of our tours -- absolutely delicious. Chinese food with tea will never be the same again. So on top of every other fear I was experiencing, I was now concerned that perhaps motherhood was "driving me to drink? " I think not.

The morning of our departure from Shijiazhuang, I woke up with a sore throat. I was convinced it was the beginning of strep and that I would pass it on to Mei Ling. My vision was that both our throats would become so infected, neither one of us would be able to swallow, we would both die with no American doctors in sight. Anyway it turned out not to be strep throat, rather, my sore throat was due to the air pollution in Shijiazhuang. Once our plane took off and we were breathing different air my throat cleared up. When we arrived at the Shijiazhuang airport, we discovered there was a two-hour flight delay which extended itself to six hours. The airport was freezing. I had dressed Mei Ling warmly, but had dressed myself in anticipation of the tropical temperatures of Guangzhou. So here I was cold, exhausted, with a sore throat and no real idea of when we would get to leave for the next leg of the journey. We talked to the airport officials and they were kind enough to herd our whole group over to the airport hotel and give us rooms so stay in until our flight departed.

I know I was a sorry sight. Mei Ling looked fine, rested and happy. Everyone in the hotel lounge kept offering me their seat while we waited our room assignments. Once I got to the room, I collapsed on the bed with Mei Ling on my chest. We both fell sound asleep instantly. Neither of us moved until our wake-up call. This last day in Shijiazhuang, while I actually had enjoyed my stay, was the low point of the trip for me. All the excitement and stress of adopting and doing that in a foreign country finally hit me. I was physically and emotionally exhausted when we left for Guangzhou. The flight to Guangzhou was wonderful. It was Mei Ling's first experience flying. She was a little teary-eyed on the take off because of the engine noise but quickly quieted down. Up until this time every place we went she sat on my lap. I was not sure how I was going to get her in her own seat on the plane with a seat belt yet, but it turned out not to be a problem. The landing was a different story. She had gotten out of her seat during the flight and wanting nothing to do with sitting down and being strapped in again. My apologies to all the other passengers on the plane for the very loud crying.


Mei Ling's "First Flight," Shijiazhuang to Guangzhou . . .

Heaven is a place called the White Swan Hotel. We arrived in Guangzhou around six in the evening. It was hot as promised and the air was thick with moisture. My sinuses appreciated that. Our trip coordinator picked us up and transported to the famous hotel. The ride from the airport took about a half hour.

The hotel was and is beautiful. My spirits immediately soared when we got to the lobby with its magnificent waterfall. Mei Ling even came to life, even though it was near her bedtime when we finally got all checked in. Our hotel room was beautiful and best of all, it was clean, clean, clean. Arrival in Guangzhou was truly our deliverance. Because of the late hour, we ordered room service - soup and sandwiches for us, congee, eggs, and apple juice for Mei Ling. And, oh yes, Tsingtao beer for Beverly and me. If you get the opportunity be sure to have the hotel's onion soup. I ordered it every chance I got ,very yummy.

Room Service at the White Swan. Mei Ling drinking apple juice, Baba drinking Tsingtao beer . . .


The next day was the first day I took a bath since I leaving home for China. I won't tell what day that was. I am very funny about bathrooms and I was terrified of using the water in China for anything if it wasn't boiled. I even gave Mei Ling sponge baths in Evian Water. But this bathroom was spotless and so inviting. This is also where Mei Ling had her first bath. Once I was clean, I started to feel human again.

I loved Guangzhou. The architecture is European and the vegetation is so lush. The streets are very narrow, so the traffic flow on the side streets in minimal and makes it safe to cross. This is where I did all my shopping for souvenirs. I felt safe and comfortable on the streets, perhaps because for the first time in several days, there were plenty of other Americans around and lots of families. The hotel in Shijiazhuang catered more to businessmen.


Mei Ling, me, other parents and their children who also were from Shijiazhuang at the White Swan . . .


We began each day with the buffet breakfast offered by the hotel and included in our room cost. As I had already learned, Mei Ling had a very good appetite. She would start off breakfast with maybe two bowls, sometimes three of peaches. Then she would have a fried egg, bacon, baked beans, apple juice and perhaps a roll -- amazing but true. All this on top of the banana and yogurt she ate before departing her hotel room for the hotel breakfast.

Guangzhou is where I really used the stroller. This is where I discovered that babies sleep in strollers and that mommy didn't have to take a nap or at the very least stay in the hotel every afternoon. I could put Mei Ling in the stroller and go out and shop. What a great discovery. It worked like a charm. She was happy. I was happy and able to regain some of my freedom. I also loved the park adjacent to the hotel and so did Mei Ling. I was surprised that most people you find there are probably native to Guangzhou. Most of the hotel clients never used the park. At least I never saw them when I was there. It is a very active park: Men and women doing Tai Chi, couples dancing, and other mothers playing with their children. There is also a small amusement park.

Evenings we would either eat in the hotel or order room service. Mei Ling mood pretty much dictated where dinner was served. If she was rested, we ate in the restaurant. The only problem was she wanted to leave after she was "all finished." That meant I didn't get to eat because I had been feeding her. Any food placed on a spoon had to go in her mouth or she would get very upset. We used room services when she was tired. Mommy found that more fun and less stressful for the both of us. Also we both got to eat – novel idea.

After we ate dinner she loved to go down and visit the underground shops. That is how Mei Ling got her evening exercise, visiting the various stores. Her favorite was the jewelry store – she takes after her mom. She also loved to climb stairs and there are lots of stairs in the White Swan Hotel. To her it was like finding your favorite ride and Disney land and riding it over and over again. I really tried to encourage her to use the elevator more, even letting her push the button – nope the stairs were the clear winner.

Our day for departure from China was rapidly approaching. Mei Ling had to get her picture taken for her exit visa and then we had to take her for her exit physical. They checked her height, weight, hearing and sight. She passed with flying colors. April 12 we met with the American Consulate. We had a 10:00 a.m. appointment. Everything went just fine.

While we were waiting downstairs outside the Consulate building waiting to depart I began talking to a gentleman about my daughter. He asked me her name. I said Mei Ling. He looked surprised and said that was his wife's name. It turns out his wife had been an orphan born in China and adopted by an American family many years ago. They had a biological daughter, and had now returned to China to adopt a second child. I couldn't help but think that maybe someday my Mei Ling might return to her country of birth to do the same thing.

April 14 we left Guangzhou to return to Beijing. This was Mei Ling's second plane ride. It was a lovely flight. The stewardesses were most attentive and gave Mei Ling a little stuffed animal. She was a little more challenging on this flight. She did not want to stay in her seat. She kept wanting to visit a little boy and couple of rows down and show him her post cards. She is a very friendly child. Unfortunately, when planes land all the passengers have to be in their seat. Try explaining this to a two-year-old. I did and did not do a very good job. Again apologies to all on the flight who had to listen to her loud protestations. The stewardess even came over to see if she was all right. I said yes, she is just fine. She was fine. She was just mad at me for putting her back in her seat with her seat belt on. Oh well.

When the plane landed Mei Ling could not get out of the airport fast enough. She kept pulling my hand as hard as she could. Unfortunately we couldn't leave as fast as she wanted because we didn't have our luggage yet. Again we were picked up by a Delight Travel representative and taken again to the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza. The hotel didn't look quite as pretty after the White Swan. We got to our room, ordered room service and then it was bed time. This would be Mei Ling's last night in her native land -- for a while at least.

On April 15 we departed Beijing. We arrived at the airport quite early in the morning. It took several hours to process through customs. Finally the big moment came and we got to board the plane to take us back home to the United States. What a truly wonderful moment. We were going home.

On the return flight we were lucky to have an entire center section row-- 4 seats across. Beverly sat at one end and I sat at the other. Little Mei Ling had the two center seats to herself. She got comfortable and immediately fell asleep. She behaved so well for most of the flight, eating, watching the in flight movie, but at the 11th hour of travel, Mei Ling decided she had had enough and wanted off the plane. She began to wail. There was no consoling her. She stood on the dinner table tray and just wailed for the whole plane to see. People were very sympathetic. Two men came over to try to help. One brought a stuffed tiger to try to get her attention. No luck. When the next man came over, there was something about his presence. He just looked at her and she stopped crying. He had brought a cup a fresh fruit with him and she began to let him feed her. This was a miracle, because at this point Mei Ling would let no one but me feed her. So she settled down once again and fell asleep in my arms as we landed in Detroit. Mei Ling was now in America.

Mei Ling loved the Detroit terminal. She found two little boys to play with and stayed with them for a long time. But when the moment came to board the flight for the last leg of the journey, she started to scream. She had had enough. The good news is that once on board because she was so tired she fell right asleep.

The flight from Detroit to Washington, D.C. took about 1-1/2 hours. When we arrived in Washington it was raining. Everything looked so beautiful, clean, wet and green. The flowers were in bloom. It was "Spring". I have done a lot of traveling, but have never been so grateful to be home or to live in America.


Last Leg of the Journey. Almost Home. . .

We were met by Beverly's husband. We called my mother to let her know we had landed. Then we swung by to pick her up on the way to my house. When they met, Grandma instantly fell in love with her new granddaughter, who was fast asleep.

The next stop was home. Mei Ling woke up as I carried her in. Sleepy as she was, when she saw all the stairs in my house her face lit up. One more time she had to demonstrate her climbing abilities. Finally I was able to convince her it was time for bed and we could climb stairs tomorrow.

That night we both slept in Mei Ling's room. She slept in her bed and I slept in the trundle bed. As soon as I laid her down she went to sleep. We were finally home.

And that is the story of how Mei Ling and I were brought together by destiny, to share our lives as mother and daughter in America.

You can email me at Shareyn@aol.com