Tribune update: Vietnamese adoption agony ends in triumph
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www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-update-adopt-bd-28-dec28,0,5139543.story
chicagotribune.com
Patience and perseverance
Tribune update: Vietnamese adoption agony ends in triumph
— Bonnie Miller Rubin
December 28, 2008
Lisa Belgrad has always had a soft spot for happy endings—and in June she got one of her own.
The
When the Tribune wrote about Belgrad in May, she had no idea when—or if—she would get to be a parent. Jamie Hoi had to stay put in an orphanage.
On Memorial Day, though, an e-mail arrived with the green light. "I just started screaming," Belgrad said. "It was surreal."
Two weeks later, the mom-to-be was en route to Thai Nguyen province.
"It's all such a blur," she says now. "But I do remember that the other babies were somber or sleeping ... and there was Jamie—just laughing and happy."
Throughout the process, Belgrad, 42, made a point of insisting that any child obtained fraudulently should be returned to her family. So she was relieved when a State Department investigation confirmed that Jamie was indeed an orphan.
Now the 17-month-old girl is at home, where she's smothered with affection not just from mom but an extended network of friends and family. She is enamored of books, dogs and spaghetti.
The
When the Tribune wrote about Belgrad in May, she had no idea when—or if—she would get to be a parent. Jamie Hoi had to stay put in an orphanage.
On Memorial Day, though, an e-mail arrived with the green light. "I just started screaming," Belgrad said. "It was surreal."
Two weeks later, the mom-to-be was en route to Thai Nguyen province.
"It's all such a blur," she says now. "But I do remember that the other babies were somber or sleeping ... and there was Jamie—just laughing and happy."
Throughout the process, Belgrad, 42, made a point of insisting that any child obtained fraudulently should be returned to her family. So she was relieved when a State Department investigation confirmed that Jamie was indeed an orphan.
Now the 17-month-old girl is at home, where she's smothered with affection not just from mom but an extended network of friends and family. She is enamored of books, dogs and spaghetti.
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2008 Dec 28