Jennifer & Q M.
Vietnam 2017
Vietnam 2017
As an eternally grateful A Child Waits grant recipient, I wanted to send you a wonderful update from our family that you helped make possible. It was such a relief to know that through your generosity and kindness, the financial burden of adoption legal and travel costs was lightened for us. I am so happy to report that my son is home forever and we are a grateful family. Thank you for your financial assistance.
My son, Q. has been home from Vietnam with our family now for just over one month, living on an American military base in the country of Japan. He is extremely bonded to me, and has been from the very beginning. Q. also showed immediate attachment to my sister and niece (his aunt and cousin), who traveled to Vietnam with me for the adoption process. He absolutely adores them, especially his aunt, perhaps because she was also adopted from Vietnam as an older child and understands the challenges he is facing. Q. clearly feels very confident in knowing that we are his family and that our situation is a permanent one that will last forever. He knows that he can look to me for all his basic needs and never-ending love. He is primarily of a positive mindset and seems to have overcome his initial grief and homesickness, for the care center, that he displayed during the first nine days post-placement. I can confidently say that Q. appears very much at home in our small family of a single parent and our dog, which he adores.
He is doing extraordinarily well with regards to adjusting to massive amounts of change and a new environment. Living in a foreign country other than the United States is an opportunity that he seems to welcome with open arms and enjoys trying new foods, visiting stores, and meeting new people. We moved into our new home one week after arriving home in Japan, and he adjusted to his new physical environment very well, understanding that the move into the family housing community was to ensure that he lives in a neighborhood full of other children and with close accessibility to his school and resources. Since being home, he has had the opportunity to attend a large-scale air show, an American birthday party, and dinner invitations to the homes of many family friends, many of whom are native Vietnamese refugee Americans.
Q. is learning English through an experienced private in-home tutor for two hours each day, five days each week. He is making much more progress reading and pronouncing words with the tutor than he had been when I was attempting to tutor him on my own, which is positively reassuring. He joined our family with the ability to say only two English phrases, and now one month later is able to respond appropriately to some simple questions in English. He remains home with me for a total of two months post-placement and will begin school on or about November 01, 2017, where he will be enrolled in 9th grade and the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program. I plan to request that he receive speech therapy in addition to the ESL resource. His private in-home English tutoring will continue two weeks into his school attendance, with the option to continue for additional weeks.
Q. is in relatively good physical health considering his significant ongoing conditions. He has been seen by the American pediatrician, dentist, and pediatric orthopedic surgeon in Japan. His lab tests conducted by the American health care providers were negative and he is of normal height and weight for his age. He received his initial schedule of vaccinations, with some due to follow-up in October. He never received the proper casting and surgeries during early childhood that were necessary for unilateral clubfoot, Blount Disease, and leg length discrepancy of 7 cm, as a result, he continues to experience a significant limp that will undoubtedly cause arthritis and pain in the future as he ages. The pediatric orthopedic surgeon evaluation determined that a second lengthening surgery was not necessary at this point and recommended it be performed by a surgeon in the US. Custom-made orthotic lifts will be manufactured for his shoes and he will likely begin physical therapy. He has been cleared to participate in all contact sports, which was a welcome relief since he began to attend Jiu Jitsu martial arts training two nights a week, which he absolutely loves. His dental health was substandard upon placement but he has been seen by the dentist and oral surgeon so that we can address his dental health. He is also scheduled for his initial optometry appointment to receive a prescription for eyeglasses to replace the broken pair that was tied together with string from Vietnam.
Our family has a significant support system here in Japan that allows us access to needed resources, as well as continued interaction with his Vietnamese culture. Both of Q.'s dentists are not only my friends, but are also native Vietnamese refugee Americans and speak Vietnamese to him. One of those dentists, born in the same province as him, actually sacrificed her personal lunch time to schedule appointments with him so that he could begin immediate dental care with her specifically. This same dentist also sacrificed her personal lunch time to accompany him to his oral surgery consult to serve as an interpreter and his other dentist has hosted us at his family’s home for dinner. Q.'s optometrist is also a native Vietnamese American and speaks Vietnamese, personally rearranging her schedule to ensure he was provided an appointment with her in a timely manner. The church we attend every Sunday morning is comprised of about 30% Vietnamese young adults here in Japan on work visas, which provides Q. with more opportunities to speak to others in his native language and make new friends at the same time.
Friends of ours are a native Vietnamese refugee American family that live nearby and have been so vital to Q.’s integration into American life here in Japan. The wife has come to our home for dinner and even sacrificed her own personal time to attend his orthopedic surgeon appointment in order to serve as an interpreter, driving two hours round trip each time. The husband has given his personal time to provide laboratory instructions in Vietnamese for Q. They both have made themselves available to him should he ever want someone to speak to or need to talk. I am continually amazed at the outpouring of love and support that the community has shown towards our family, specifically to Q. I will continue to ensure that he has every opportunity to maintain a sense of his native culture and language as he grows older.
In closing, I am immensely relieved that my son is embracing our new family with openness and acceptance. I love him more than life itself and hope that our time together is one that imprints positive examples of love, education, opportunity, and respect. I am grateful for the chance to be his mother through the miracle of adoption. I have attached some photos of our new family that I hope you enjoy. Thank you again.
Very Respectfully,
Jennifer M.
My son, Q. has been home from Vietnam with our family now for just over one month, living on an American military base in the country of Japan. He is extremely bonded to me, and has been from the very beginning. Q. also showed immediate attachment to my sister and niece (his aunt and cousin), who traveled to Vietnam with me for the adoption process. He absolutely adores them, especially his aunt, perhaps because she was also adopted from Vietnam as an older child and understands the challenges he is facing. Q. clearly feels very confident in knowing that we are his family and that our situation is a permanent one that will last forever. He knows that he can look to me for all his basic needs and never-ending love. He is primarily of a positive mindset and seems to have overcome his initial grief and homesickness, for the care center, that he displayed during the first nine days post-placement. I can confidently say that Q. appears very much at home in our small family of a single parent and our dog, which he adores.
He is doing extraordinarily well with regards to adjusting to massive amounts of change and a new environment. Living in a foreign country other than the United States is an opportunity that he seems to welcome with open arms and enjoys trying new foods, visiting stores, and meeting new people. We moved into our new home one week after arriving home in Japan, and he adjusted to his new physical environment very well, understanding that the move into the family housing community was to ensure that he lives in a neighborhood full of other children and with close accessibility to his school and resources. Since being home, he has had the opportunity to attend a large-scale air show, an American birthday party, and dinner invitations to the homes of many family friends, many of whom are native Vietnamese refugee Americans.
Q. is learning English through an experienced private in-home tutor for two hours each day, five days each week. He is making much more progress reading and pronouncing words with the tutor than he had been when I was attempting to tutor him on my own, which is positively reassuring. He joined our family with the ability to say only two English phrases, and now one month later is able to respond appropriately to some simple questions in English. He remains home with me for a total of two months post-placement and will begin school on or about November 01, 2017, where he will be enrolled in 9th grade and the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program. I plan to request that he receive speech therapy in addition to the ESL resource. His private in-home English tutoring will continue two weeks into his school attendance, with the option to continue for additional weeks.
Q. is in relatively good physical health considering his significant ongoing conditions. He has been seen by the American pediatrician, dentist, and pediatric orthopedic surgeon in Japan. His lab tests conducted by the American health care providers were negative and he is of normal height and weight for his age. He received his initial schedule of vaccinations, with some due to follow-up in October. He never received the proper casting and surgeries during early childhood that were necessary for unilateral clubfoot, Blount Disease, and leg length discrepancy of 7 cm, as a result, he continues to experience a significant limp that will undoubtedly cause arthritis and pain in the future as he ages. The pediatric orthopedic surgeon evaluation determined that a second lengthening surgery was not necessary at this point and recommended it be performed by a surgeon in the US. Custom-made orthotic lifts will be manufactured for his shoes and he will likely begin physical therapy. He has been cleared to participate in all contact sports, which was a welcome relief since he began to attend Jiu Jitsu martial arts training two nights a week, which he absolutely loves. His dental health was substandard upon placement but he has been seen by the dentist and oral surgeon so that we can address his dental health. He is also scheduled for his initial optometry appointment to receive a prescription for eyeglasses to replace the broken pair that was tied together with string from Vietnam.
Our family has a significant support system here in Japan that allows us access to needed resources, as well as continued interaction with his Vietnamese culture. Both of Q.'s dentists are not only my friends, but are also native Vietnamese refugee Americans and speak Vietnamese to him. One of those dentists, born in the same province as him, actually sacrificed her personal lunch time to schedule appointments with him so that he could begin immediate dental care with her specifically. This same dentist also sacrificed her personal lunch time to accompany him to his oral surgery consult to serve as an interpreter and his other dentist has hosted us at his family’s home for dinner. Q.'s optometrist is also a native Vietnamese American and speaks Vietnamese, personally rearranging her schedule to ensure he was provided an appointment with her in a timely manner. The church we attend every Sunday morning is comprised of about 30% Vietnamese young adults here in Japan on work visas, which provides Q. with more opportunities to speak to others in his native language and make new friends at the same time.
Friends of ours are a native Vietnamese refugee American family that live nearby and have been so vital to Q.’s integration into American life here in Japan. The wife has come to our home for dinner and even sacrificed her own personal time to attend his orthopedic surgeon appointment in order to serve as an interpreter, driving two hours round trip each time. The husband has given his personal time to provide laboratory instructions in Vietnamese for Q. They both have made themselves available to him should he ever want someone to speak to or need to talk. I am continually amazed at the outpouring of love and support that the community has shown towards our family, specifically to Q. I will continue to ensure that he has every opportunity to maintain a sense of his native culture and language as he grows older.
In closing, I am immensely relieved that my son is embracing our new family with openness and acceptance. I love him more than life itself and hope that our time together is one that imprints positive examples of love, education, opportunity, and respect. I am grateful for the chance to be his mother through the miracle of adoption. I have attached some photos of our new family that I hope you enjoy. Thank you again.
Very Respectfully,
Jennifer M.
