I.C. families opt for international adoption
A long and arduous process is ending in limitless love and fulfillment for many Iowa City residents opting to adopt abroad.
By Kevin Ho The Daily Iowan
Today, UI Assistant Professor Ralph Keen and his wife, Mary, will be traveling to Fujian Province in the People's Republic of China. In the past 24 hours, Ralph had to administer a final exam, assign grades, pack a suitcase with valuable documents, clothes and a camera. He also made room for diapers, pacifiers, baby bottles and a birth certificate.
In their time abroad, Ralph and Mary will become the parents of a baby girl, Mei Lin. "It's not often that you get a chance to make a significant difference in someone's life like this," Ralph said.
The Keens are part of a growing number of Iowa City residents and UI faculty who are participating in international adoptions. Keen said one reason they chose to adopt abroad is because the support system for orphans in China isn't as good as in the United States, adding that the Chinese culture favors male children."The plight of the infant girl in China is something we became aware of recently," Keen said.
This cultural tradition, combined with a stringent one-child population-control policy, has led to many parents abandoning their baby girls, Keen said. Judy Murphy, local coordinator for the Iowa City Area Adoptive Families, said there are various reasons for choosing an international adoption over a domestic adoption. A certain cultural association with a child and a shorter waiting period are reasons people choose to adopt internationally, she said; the past 20 years has seen a marked increase in such adoptions.
"A big difference that an international adoption has is that there is a difference in cultural background than your child," she said. "When you welcome a new child to your family, you also get a new identification with their culture that you might not have had before. It's both enriching and challenging." Murphy herself adopted her son and daughter from Guatemala.
The process includes an "enormous" amount of paperwork, home studies by social workers, background screenings and a lot of patience, Murphy said. The entire adoption process averages about one year.
"I think it's the best thing we've ever done, though," said Murphy, who also enlisted the help of an adoption agency. "In terms of our children, we've had both birth and adopted children. They're both as meaningful to us, and there is no difference in the intensity of emotion involved with them."
UI law Professor John-Mark Stensvaag said international adoptions are the norm in his extended family. "When you see a family picture, it looks like the United Nations," he said. "It's just been a wholly positive and wonderful experience that has enriched our lives and the lives of our extended parents." Stensvaag and his wife Nancy have five children, three of whom were adopted abroad.
The Stensvaag children range in age from 13 to 23. "The ideal is to find a home in their culture," he said. "But the second option is to find a loving home anywhere. I think that this is growing because people just love children and just the philosophy that every child deserves a (loving) home."
However, the process can bring about some different, and sometimes difficult, situations, Keen said. "Having to go down to the Johnson County jail to get fingerprinted for the background check is something that is really intense," he said. "All the paperwork is mind-numbing. I've never gone through a process so complex and as demanding as this one."
After a two-week period of adjustment, the Keens and their daughter will return to Iowa City via Hong Kong. The Keens have prepared a nursery for the 20-month-old girl and are making plans to move to a bigger house to meet the needs of a growing family.
Title: I.C. families opt for international adoption By: Kevin Ho Page: 1A Date: 5/12/98
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The Daily Iowan:1998
'Beautiful jade' finally in town
After adopting a baby from China, a UI professor feels his family is now complete.
By Kevin Ho The Daily Iowan
After enduring stacks of paperwork, months of waiting and a two-week trip to China, an Iowa City couple has become the proud parents of a baby daughter. Ralph and Mary Keen's daughter Meilin, which in Chinese means "beautiful jade," is 21 months old and able to speak bits of English and Chinese.
"She mimics great -- she has a great sense of humor. She calls us mama and baba," Mary said.
After a grueling year-long application process, the Keens left for Guangzhou, China, three weeks ago to complete the adoption. The family of three returned from China 10 days ago.
Mary Keen, an artist and artistic director for Arts Iowa City, said meeting Meilin for the first time was exciting "They brought her in on a 12-hour train ride from a provincial town," she said. "They brought her to us in our hotel room on the second day we were there, and it was such an experience to find this little bundle of baby in our arms."
Her husband said he feels his family is now complete. "It's been an amazing change," said the UI assistant professor of religion. "Right up to the point until I saw her, it still didn't set in, but as soon as I held her in my own arms, I realized that she was completely part of our family."
The worst part of the entire experience was the grueling 14-hour flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, Mary Keen said. "She was great for most of the flight, but there got to be a point where she just couldn't stand it," she said. "Even I couldn't stand it."
The Keens said they have hired a Chinese-speaking babysitter to maintain strong linguistic ties to Meilin's cultural background. The cultural meshing the family is undergoing is evident in the Keens' efforts to make Meilin aware of her native country. The couple also plans to learn how to cook Chinese food. "We feel we have a strong bond with China through Meilin," Mary said. "In fact, we even feel a little part-Chinese."
Title: 'Beautiful jade' finally in town Page: 3A Date: 6/12/98