Broadlands Woman Adopts Baby From Her Home In Korea
Broadlands Woman Adopts Baby From Her Home In Korea
May 3, 2008 - 1:16pm
Erika Hodell-Cotti, of Broadlands, holds Langdon Cotti, 10 months old. (Photo/Lisa Johnson).
Thirty years ago, 3-year-old Erika Hodell-Cotti set foot on American soil for the first time.
Her parents, Carole McMinn and Charles Hodell, adopted her from an orphanage in Seoul, Korea, where they were stationed on a military tour.
Hodell-Cotti had no idea that she and her husband, Dwayne, would one day make the trip from their current home in Broadlands back to her former orphanage to complete the circle and adopt a baby boy of their own.
“I had always wanted to be a mom,” she said. “I was adopted, and I always thought, 'I can't wait to get married and have a family of my own.'”
Growing up in Reston with her parents, four brothers and one sister wasn't always a happy time, she said. Being the only Asian in a family of tall, blond Americans, Hodell-Cotti said she knew what it was like to feel like an outsider.
“My childhood was filled with not only looking different but nagging questions of why I looked different,” she said. “I secretly prayed every night, 'God if you love me, please let me wake up looking like my brothers and sister.'”
Hodell-Cotti said she couldn't wait to have biological children of her own so they would never have to know that same feeling.
But fate intervened.
Just after moving into her new Loudoun County home in 2004, Hodell-Cotti was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer.
Surgery was the only solution, and in February 2005 she had a hysterectomy. She would never have a biological child.
“It was a big blow,” she said. “I definitely wanted to become a parent.”
Hodell-Cotti said the only solution was to adopt, and Korea seemed like the logical choice.
She wanted a son or daughter who would fit in and look like her as much as possible, she said.
While going through the beginning of the adoption process, Hodell-Cotti was asked to provide her birth certificate.
She couldn't find a birth certificate; however, she did have a slip of paper from the “Social Welfare Society” her parents had saved. She had always assumed it was a government document from Korea, but in fact, Social Welfare Society was the name of the orphanage in Soeul from which she was adopted in 1978.
Hodell-Cotti was instructed by her original adoption agency to change to another agency, the Barker Foundation, which works with that orphanage, and she and Dwayne decided to adopt a child from there.
On Oct. 15, they were sent a photo of their son, Langdon Forrest Cotti.
“He and I are literally from the same orphanage,” she said. “When he's older, if he ever says to me, 'Mom, you just don't get it,' I can say, 'I do get it. I went through the same thing.'”
The couple spent months working through adoption paperwork. Finally, on Feb. 14, they got the call notifying them they were free to travel to Korea.
When they arrived at the Social Welfare Society in Soeul, Hodell-Cotti spent hours pouring over letters her father had written back and forth with representatives there 30 years ago. She was also able to look through her own file, which contained photos of her when she was a baby in the orphanage.
Then, Hodell-Cotti got to meet her 8-month-old son, Langdon.
“I couldn't quite believe it was happening,” she said of the moment she held him for the first time. “It almost felt like I was in a dream.”
On Feb. 21, the couple met with the adoption agency in Korea, and around 4 p.m., they were handed their son. He was theirs permanently.
The whole adoption process took about 20 months, Hodell-Cotti said.
The family spent one night in a hotel in Korea, then flew back to Virginia to introduce Langdon to his new home and new life in the United States.
Hodell-Cotti said being a mom came naturally to her, and she plans to tell Langdon the whole truth about his adoption and teach him to embrace his Korean heritage.
“We will celebrate that he was adopted,” she said. “It doesn't even matter. Family is family.”
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
Copyright 2008 Loudoun Times-Mirror. All rights reserved.
by Elizabeth Coe @ Loudoun Times-Mirror
Thirty years ago, 3-year-old Erika Hodell-Cotti set foot on American soil for the first time.
Her parents, Carole McMinn and Charles Hodell, adopted her from an orphanage in Seoul, Korea, where they were stationed on a military tour.
Hodell-Cotti had no idea that she and her husband, Dwayne, would one day make the trip from their current home in Broadlands back to her former orphanage to complete the circle and adopt a baby boy of their own.
“I had always wanted to be a mom,” she said. “I was adopted, and I always thought, 'I can't wait to get married and have a family of my own.'”
Growing up in Reston with her parents, four brothers and one sister wasn't always a happy time, she said. Being the only Asian in a family of tall, blond Americans, Hodell-Cotti said she knew what it was like to feel like an outsider.
“My childhood was filled with not only looking different but nagging questions of why I looked different,” she said. “I secretly prayed every night, 'God if you love me, please let me wake up looking like my brothers and sister.'”
Hodell-Cotti said she couldn't wait to have biological children of her own so they would never have to know that same feeling.
But fate intervened.
Just after moving into her new Loudoun County home in 2004, Hodell-Cotti was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer.
Surgery was the only solution, and in February 2005 she had a hysterectomy. She would never have a biological child.
“It was a big blow,” she said. “I definitely wanted to become a parent.”
Hodell-Cotti said the only solution was to adopt, and Korea seemed like the logical choice.
She wanted a son or daughter who would fit in and look like her as much as possible, she said.
While going through the beginning of the adoption process, Hodell-Cotti was asked to provide her birth certificate.
She couldn't find a birth certificate; however, she did have a slip of paper from the “Social Welfare Society” her parents had saved. She had always assumed it was a government document from Korea, but in fact, Social Welfare Society was the name of the orphanage in Soeul from which she was adopted in 1978.
Hodell-Cotti was instructed by her original adoption agency to change to another agency, the Barker Foundation, which works with that orphanage, and she and Dwayne decided to adopt a child from there.
On Oct. 15, they were sent a photo of their son, Langdon Forrest Cotti.
“He and I are literally from the same orphanage,” she said. “When he's older, if he ever says to me, 'Mom, you just don't get it,' I can say, 'I do get it. I went through the same thing.'”
The couple spent months working through adoption paperwork. Finally, on Feb. 14, they got the call notifying them they were free to travel to Korea.
When they arrived at the Social Welfare Society in Soeul, Hodell-Cotti spent hours pouring over letters her father had written back and forth with representatives there 30 years ago. She was also able to look through her own file, which contained photos of her when she was a baby in the orphanage.
Then, Hodell-Cotti got to meet her 8-month-old son, Langdon.
“I couldn't quite believe it was happening,” she said of the moment she held him for the first time. “It almost felt like I was in a dream.”
On Feb. 21, the couple met with the adoption agency in Korea, and around 4 p.m., they were handed their son. He was theirs permanently.
The whole adoption process took about 20 months, Hodell-Cotti said.
The family spent one night in a hotel in Korea, then flew back to Virginia to introduce Langdon to his new home and new life in the United States.
Hodell-Cotti said being a mom came naturally to her, and she plans to tell Langdon the whole truth about his adoption and teach him to embrace his Korean heritage.
“We will celebrate that he was adopted,” she said. “It doesn't even matter. Family is family.”
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
Copyright 2008 Loudoun Times-Mirror. All rights reserved.