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| Photo courtesy Jeri Floyd |
中文版請按此
Seventeen years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd of Los Angeles flew halfway around the world to China to meet their first daughter. “There were a lot of uncertainties—we didn't know how this new child would change our life,” Mrs. Floyd recalled.
Fast forward to today. Mr. and Mrs. Floyd are now certain that their two daughters adopted from China are the most wonderful part of their lives.
The Floyds currently reside in Santa Monica. The husband is Caucasian and the wife, Jeri, is third-generation Japanese-American. Their two daughters are now 17 and 13 years old, both were abandoned orphans from China; both were adopted by the Floyds before one year of age.
Tens of thousands of baby girls were abandoned in China every year because of the country's one-child policy. The Chinese government launched a China adoption program in 1996, hoping to reduce the problem. The State of California was one of China's adoption program partners.
By then the young Floyds were just married for one year. They knew they wanted to have kids. Jeri read about the abandonment of baby girls in China and was touched. She thought maybe they could try to have kids in the traditional way and try the adoption at the same time.
Her husband supported her idea. The couple registered with the state government to adopt Chinese girls. After a year-long intense interviewing and screening process, they were approved to be eligible to adopt. In another six months, they were matched by the Chinese government to adopt a baby girl from Anhui, China.
The waiting time was shorter 17 years ago to adopt children from China. The Floyds waited for two years to bring their first daughter home. Now the average waiting time is four years.
Jeri felt like a mother as soon as she saw her adopted daughter. “It's amazing,” she said.
The Floyds didn't know much about Chinese culture, but after adopting their first daughter, they became enthusiastic about the girl's mother culture. They took her to Chinese language school and Chinese dance class. Four years later, they returned to Anhui and adopted their second daughter.
Jeri was also very active with FCC-SoCal (Families with Children from China-Southern California), an organization that support adoptive parents and children. She was involved with a variety of volunteer works, telling Chinese folk stories for children at elementary schools in her neighborhood, and organizing cultural events for other families with adopted children. She served as the organization's co-chair and then president from 1998 to 2009.
“My life was never the same again after having our two daughters,” Jeri said. “The other day I was bringing my elder daughter to her dance class. I watched her dress up, and I told her that she was so beautiful that I could barely remember how she looked at the orphanage.”
“All in a sudden I realized that when I tell my daughter that she is beautiful, it's very different from other mothers telling their daughters that they are beautiful,” she said, “Because I was not praising a young girl with my gene and just look like a younger me. I'm praising another independent individual, a beautiful young woman, and I appreciate her just the way she is.”
Jeri's daughter didn't really come out of her, “but I love them so very much.”
The Floyd's elder daughter, Rachel, is now 17 years old. She has grown into a beautiful young woman; she joined Chinese culture dance club and spoke Mandarin Chinese.
“I kind of always knew that I'm adopted, but it doesn't bother me. My father, my mother, and my sister here are the only family I know. I never wonder what my family back in China might be like. But I hope they are well, and somehow know that I'm well here,” she said.
“When I grow up, I might consider adopting children. Because it is a good thing and the reason I had a chance to grow up.”
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