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10- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 25, 1997 Chinese orphan has new Canadian home Two-year odyssey over as couple adopts child By Chris Hall Port Perry Star A search that lasted al- most two years has finally come to a happy conclu- sion for a local couple. After completing moun- tains of paperwork and jumping through many government hoops, Sun Valley residents Tim and Yolande Mitchell recently touched down at Toronto's Pearson International Airport with Jazzmyn, their 11-month-old girl from China. Realizing that the wait- ing list for adopting chil- dren in Canada was tre- mendously long, the couple focussed their sights on adopting a Chi- nese child. With the help of a friend, they made contact with The Children's a invite you to an OPEN HOUSE in honour of her 90th birthday Sunday, April 6, 1997, 1:30 pm - 4:30pm at the home of John & Sherri Foote 105 River Street, Seagrave (best wishes only) for information, call (905) 985-0611 dla: 11 a1 -\'g DOLLY ROBERTS Place: 1222 Hwy. 7A & Love Mommie, Nanny, Bridge, a non-profit organ- ization in Ottawa that helps families through the process of adopting inter- nationally. In September of 1995, the local couple registered their file with the organization and in January 1996 started fill- ing out paperwork. Forms had to be com- pleted, passports had to be obtained, and each had to undergo an extensive po- lice check. Then it was on to the forms from China, where applications had to be made out to the Justice and Civil Affairs depart- ment. Although the process usually takes nine months, the Mitchells' ex- perience with an interna- tional adoption lasted just short of two years, partly because of the OPSEU £2 90th BIRTHDAY the family of MABEL HURST OPEN HOUSE in honour of 90th BIRTHDAY Sunday, April 6 Time: 2-4pm Hwy 12, Manchester March 31, 1997 Karl & Pam strike last year, and bu- reaucratic roadblocks in China. Nine months after all the paperwork and forms were completed a proposal came in from China on Dec. 31, 1996, offering the Mitchells a baby girl. A hasty letter of acceptance was sent in return, and the waiting game contin- ued. A travel notice had to be issued to them, and they had to wait for the okay to pick up the or- phaned child. While the process was at times frustrating, the Mitchells say that no price would have been too high to pay for their little girl. "You can't put a price tag on a child's head. Adopting overseas didn't cost us any more than what it would have cost in Canada," said Mrs. Mitch- ell, adding that The Chil- dren's Bridge helped out a tremendous amount in all ways. "Basically, we had to pay for our airfare, food, embassy papers and we had to make a certain do- nation to the China or- phanage, which was medi- cal supplies and food." Due to China's one child per family policy, institut- ed in 1979, lots of children are left as orphans in Chi- na, most of them girls. The Children's Bridge has matched more than 400 families and children in the past six years. With everything in proper order, the couple embarked on their journey for China on Feb. 28. After a four-and-a-half hour flight to Vancouver, they flew 11 and a half hours to Beijing, where they spent a night before catching a two-hour flight to Wuhan. "Within two hours of touching down in Wuhan we had our little girl," said Mrs. Mitchell, explaining that four other Canadian couples, also adopting children, accompanied them. "We checked into our ho- tel and we had Jazzmyn in an hour. We went up- stairs, got a phone call, and were told that our ba- bies would be coming up in 10 minutes," continued Mrs. Mitchell, smiling as she played with her tiny daughter. "Here were five couples standing around the ele- SOUARE PIZZA & SUB 80 Water Street, Port Perry 0985-8448 BO) WS Find us fast in the "Yellow Pages" ™ "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" | 4 CHRIS HALL / PORT PERRY STAR 'After months of waiting the Mitchell family is finally together as Yolande, Tim and son Makenzi waited just under two years to finally get the okay to fly to China so they could pick up the newest addition to their family, adopted daughter Jazzmyn. After mountains of paperwork and dancing through gov- ernment hoops, the Sun Valley family is together. vator on the seventh floor of this hotel, and once the door opened and a Chinese family came out and they Just looked at us; five cou- ples all excitedly expect- ing little babies to be in there," Yolande Mitchell said with a laugh. "When we got our propo- sal she was eight months old, so we didn't know what she would look like. Finally when they came up and when we seen her little face, with her tongue sticking out, we knew she was ours. All the babies arrived just bundled up in thick clothing that looked like snow suits; their arms and legs stuck out because they couldn't move. They had three layers of cloth- ing on and it was 65 de- grees out that day; they looked like little Sumo wrestlers." Some children had ar- rived from an orphanage in Shyan City while the other two had come from different orphanages. The Mitchells estimate that the babies had at least a 12-hour train ride to get to Wuhan. With their new child the Canadian couple headed off to the Chinese Civil Af- fairs office, where they en- countered a few difficul- ties. "We had a few problems but the government worked to help us out. Everything was in the air for six days because every- _SLAP SHOT fl The Original Tm | items of your i choice ONLY N < B80. 0 0 0. 0.8 8 8 0 000 ENN E1 4 20pc. Bigfoot® 99 i pizza with 3 ws : tax ES, 7 Salad & Garlic oxprog J thing has to be right. It was awful because there was nothing we could do; everything has to be done exact, precise," said Mr. Mitchell. After spending a week in Wuhan getting their no- tarization from the Civil Affairs office, the Mitch- ells were cleared to contin- ue on to Beijing. "Wuhan was amazing; it was like the wild west with taxis. There was con- - struction everywhere be- cause they were making improvements. It would make Toronto jealous," said Mr. Mitchell, calling the city with a population of 7 million a "small town". The Mitchells also found the residents of Wu- han very friendly and helpful. "The people there were so supportive and pleased about the adoption. There are hardly any tourists in Wuhan so when they see a couple walking down the streets, especially with a Chinese baby, they would gather around the couples and listen to the adoption stories," said Ms. Mitchell, explaining that an inter- preter accompanied them most of the time. Arriving back in Beij- ing, they received a pass- port for little Jazzmyn and waited for her visa, which would allow them all to re- turn to Canada. While waiting, the Mitchells made the most HAT TRICK of their time, exploring The Forbidden City and climbing the Berlin Wall. "Beijing was so hustle- bustle. There were people riding bicycles, driving rickshaws and horse and carriages and taxis, but all they did was honk and go, there were no accidents," said Mr. Mitchell in awe. "And everyone fussed over the Canadians who were adopting the Chinese baby. They would go crazy for the babies and they would play with them. There aren't many chil- dren in China out and about so they loved to pick them up and cuddle them and dote over them," said Mrs. Mitchell. After spending a week in Beijing, the trio depart- ed for Canada, a tough trip. "The ride home was a killer. We flew 30 hours with a baby. She was fine from China to Vancouver, but from there to Toronto was something else." Now back home in Scu- gog, the Mitchells, with their five-year-old son Ma- kenzi, are trying to get used to having a baby again and are preparing for the future. The little girl's full name is Jazzmyn Lauren Eliza- beth Rong; Mrs. Mitchell says that the name Jazz- myn came from their son. 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