Our Daughter's Finding Ad

Well, back at the first of March, I put a request to find our daughter's finding ad. I contacted Research China and their job is to find the newspaper that has your daughter or son's finding ad in it. First of all, you are probably wondering what a finding ad is! Well, beginning in 1999, the orphanages in China were required to run a newspaper advertisement for children that were found and brought to their orphanage in the hopes that someone would step forward and claim them. 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 in their ads. These photographs are usually the earliest available pictures of the children, some from as young as a few weeks old. So, as you can see, as a parent with limited information and pictures, the finding ad is priceless. Here is an example of a finding ad...(THIS IS NOT OUR DAUGHTER)--I have not decided if I want to keep that private or not, so until I decide, I am not going to post it...

We finally received our daughter's ad and newspaper containing the ad just a few days ago. Although she was found when she was approximately 2 days old, her ad picture was from when she was 4 months old and was actually a picture that we had already received, but it was still good to get the actual newspaper to keep for her. I will admit that it was really sad. In the paper was row after row of finding ads....just baby after baby, each with a number over their ad...and right in there among them was our little treasure. I cannot even begin to understand what has already gone on in her little life. And there is no way to know exactly the "why's" surrounding her circumstances. Not all mothers in China that give up their babies are heartless, wanting to disregard them because of their gender or their needs, but not all mothers there are loving and brokenhearted over the loss of their baby either. There is no way for us to know if she willingly gave her up or if she was forced. I am hoping that when we go to China and meet the nannies at her orphanage, that they will be able to give us a few shreds of information that might help us piece these things together, so only time will tell....