“We tried everything, but it just wasn’t going to happen,” says Jennifer, 33.

Jennifer and her husband, Steve, had been trying to have a baby for over a year without success. After frequent doctor visits and much spent time and money, they knew they never could have one.

Jen had two step-children, but they were grown up when they came into her life. The only other option for Jen to have a child was adoption.

She was desperate and knew it would be her only opportunity. Steve was skeptical of the idea, but Jen knew it was the only wayto have that baby she had been dreaming of. Another ingluence in the decision to adopt, was Jen’s sister. She also adopted a young girl from China. Jen thought that if the adoption turned out to be a success, the two cousins would have a “special connection,” she says.

Jen and Steve finally came to the agreement of adopting a little girl from China. But before they could even be considered to get a baby, they had to complete a long, intracate process. Mountains of paperwork had to be filled out. Most were financial and health related forms, but some asked random quesitons about their daily lives and friends as weel. Jen and Steve had many meetins with representatives of a Chinese adoption agency and social workers and were extensively interviewed.

“It was terrifying,” said Jen. “These people and these piles of paperwork were going to decide if I could get my baby.”

After much hard work, they were approbed for a baby. They received some final information and picture of the child. Steve and Jen then decided on the name.

“I was relieved, I was sick of the waiting, and I was in shock. All I could think about then was getting to hold the girl in that picture,” said Jen.


They had to fill out more forms and submit different payments. After the hard work was done, Jena nd Steve went on their trip to China. They had to bring along cash as the rest of the payment for the adoption.

“I felt like I was buying drugs or something,” Jen laughed.

They had to fill out some more paperwork, and then they would get to see their child. When Jen met her, she was confused as to what to think.

“I saw her and I was just like, so this is my kid. She’s mine.”

Their daughter is now three. She has changed their lives and made them indescribably happpy. But adopting “Peyton also gave them a dose of reality. Jen, who used to get $70 haircuts and go nuts over a shoe sale, is now more concerned with snack time and bedtime stories.

Stever used to be a neat freak that put floor mats over his floor mats, vacuumed paint chips off his gras, and has his socks color coordingated. Now, he is content to have crayon-free walls and to clean the little muddy footprints off the floor.

“Most people just hop into bed and get to have a kid, but we had to go through all that work,” said Jen.

However, that work doesn’t matter now. It was worth it because Jen got to have the baby she had dreamt of.