CHINA - International Infant Adoption

My husband and I began our quest to adopt our daughter, Haley-Lyn Sihong Oscarson, in the spring of 2001. To this day my husband will begin our story by mentioning the night I informed him that I needed to be a mom, therefore, I wanted us to adopt a baby girl from China.

My husband admits he did not sleep well that night because the concept was so foreign to him. But after what seemed like an eternity, we made it through the process and received our referral in November 2002; then traveled to Changzhou to meet and bring home our daughter in early January 2003. Haley was 10 months old, in great health and took to the both of us right away (we were lucky!)

Fast forward 3+ years and Haley is an amazing 4 ? year old.  We’ve wondered… is the personality of a child based on nature or nurture and for Haley one would only guess nurture. She is a fun loving, outgoing “jokester” like her Dad and a neat freak, sensitive type like her Mom. Whether playing with Dad or cuddling before bedtime with Mom, we’ve often felt… “this child was destined to be ours from the start and we feel it’s as if we gave birth to her.”

From the very beginning Haley has been the center of our lives (including both our family and friends). My husband and I thought that over time her uniqueness to our family and friends would begin to dwindle and Haley would not receive as much attention. But over time, this incredible, wonderful, child of ours remains the center of all of our lives. And we’ve come to realize that it’s not that she’s different (being adopted from China) it’s because she is Haley Oscarson, great personality and all!

The Oscarsons (Jack, Lynne and Haley)