We take it for granted that we have many photos of ourselves as babies and even more so now in a world of digital cameras; photos of our children are in abundance. Unfortunately orphanages in China don't have the time or money to take a lot of photos of the babies in their care. In most cases we will only get our little one's referral photo and maybe one update during the waiting period. Since 1999, the orphanages in China are required to run a provincial newspaper advertisement for children that are found and brought to their orphanage. They are called 'Finding Ads' - these ads contain information about where and when the children were found and which orphanage is caring for them. Originally these were text only ads, but most provinces now include photographs. These photographs are usually the earliest available pictures of our children, some from as young as a few weeks old.
Brian Stuy and his wife Longlan (adoptive parents to three beautiful Chinese girls) maintain this website - www.research-china.org - they locate the baby's finding ad, send a photo of the picture in the newspaper and may even have a copy of the actual newspaper!
Our daughter, Jiang Yang Qi's ad was in the 'Hunan Daily" newspaper published February 1st, 2011 and is seventh ad in the first column. She is so precious in her little hat! Being able to get her baby picture is an opportunity we are most grateful for.
Deuteronomy 26:11 - And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house.
This is often the earliest photo we ever see of our children... I am so grateful for this service! It is a huge part of their history.
ReplyDeleteOh, this made me teary Jill. I'm so glad you have this for Phebe, it will mean so much to her one day.
ReplyDelete江阳琪...such beautiful name:):)
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure to be able to have a picture of her so young. One of the losses that I wasn't expecting when we adopted internationally is not having baby pictures of our kids. I have mourned that, the ability to one day show them what they looked like as babies. I'm glad to hear about this incredible service provided to families of kids adopted from China. So happy to hear that your daughter will always have this picture!
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