CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY FOR 4 ADOPTING COUPLES
Boston Globe
Author: WENDY FOX
Three little yellow bundles and one in pink. Tears and ooohs and "Look how much hair she has!" One new father fumbling with a baby bottle. Another rewinding his camera film. Very few words, but a roomful of smiles.
The bundles were babies, four little Korean girls flown to Boston last night to be adopted by four Massachusetts couples. They came off the plane at Logan Airport in the elbow crooks of volunteers from
International Adoptions Inc.in Newton and left the airport in the arms of their new parents.
They passed from new father to new mother and back again. Little yellow pacifiers went in the mouths and out. Staccato flashbulbs popped in their eyes and friends crowded around for a peek, but still the babies did not cry.
Most of the couples, like Michael and Mary Ellen Mougin from Pittsfield, had been waiting about eight months for their babies. Having given up on adopting in the United States, they had turned, instead, to International Adoptions. Some of the couples requested babies from Korea, some specifically asked for a girl. All, like the other 250 parents nationwide who adopt a child through International Adoptions each year, reached out for their infants with hungry and loving arms.
Mary Ellen Mougin burst into tears.
John and Sheila Slavinsky from Mashpee couldn't stop grinning.
Richard and Karen Weinhaus from Cambridge held their baby and each other close.
And Larry Junda and Jill Revotskie from Weston turned smiling, but shyly, away from the cameras.
Each couple gave their baby a kiss, a hug and a new first name but each kept the infant's Korean name in the middle. Two of the babies were just two months old, another was three months and the fourth was seven months. Korean officials had guaranteed their health and the new parents had arranged for their visas and immigration papers.
Three or four weeks ago, the couples received baby pictures and information about each baby's history and health. Six months from now, they can apply for their new child's US citizenship.
In the meantime, however, all four couples have a new baby for Christmas. And all four couples agreed on one thing. In the words of John Slavinsky: "Oh, she's beautiful