On May 1, 2005, our family celebrated the second anniversary of our daughter Azure's arrival in the US from China.

Now 12 years old and in 6th grade, she recently took the state tests required of all 6th graders in Oregon. Working without any assistance and entirely in English, she exceeded the benchmark for 6th grade math and for 5th grade reading, after only two years in this country!

We credit her extraordinary success in part to our school district
For their flexibility in: allowing me to interpet for her (in my very poor Mandarin) all day every day for the first 6 months; allowing her to take 6th grade at her elementary school, where she could continue to get more intensive ESL services, rather than at a middle school; and for allowing her to work with an excellent Title I reading teacher twice a week for two years.

Azure would tell you that learning English is very hard, and she
Still has a long way to go to catch up completely in vocabulary and academic language. She also works hard to maintain her Mandarin by reading and writing with a Chinese tutor and watching Mandarin soap opera DVDs every week. We believe she has a very good chance of being a bilingual, bi-literate adult, which in our shrinking world will be an inestimable asset.

Older child adoption is not for everyone, nor is it free from pitfalls and difficulties, but for us it has been and continues to be a great blessing in our lives.

--Stephanie,
   Mom of 5 great kids and grandma of 2 super grandkids