That's it! After 21 months of waiting, we were finally going to meet our daughter! We dream about it for so long, we hope for it so much and when it happens, it's as if it were all unreal.
That's it. After 21 months of waiting, after having packed and repacked our bags, checked and rechecked our lists and all the important papers to bring, we are ready to take the plane to Ho Chi Minh City in Viet Nam. We are feverish, both worried and happy. Worried, because we are heading into the unknown. Happy because we will finally hold our little treasure in our arms. October 10, 2008, Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International Airport, in the middle of the night. If you were there and saw a small group of slightly nervous people, it was probably our relatives and us.
When boarding the plane, my partner and I shook hands. It was the last time we were going to be on Quebec soil, just the two of us. The next time we would set foot there again, we would be family. We could hardly believe it. We dream about it for so long, we hope for it so much and when it happens, it's as if it were all unreal. This child, this little girl of barely 2 months with whom we were paired for a few weekspreviously. This now almost 3-month-old Vietnamese girl, named Nguyen Hong, had no idea what to expect in a few days. We had almost 20 hours of flight and a few hours of waiting in 2 airports to do before finally discovering our daughter's country of origin. So we sat as comfortably as possible in these narrow seats of the airlines Air Canada, then Cathay Pacific Airways. We tried to distract ourselves as best we could, we tried to sleep so that time seemed to pass more quickly. This time… man’s best friend or worst enemy, depending on the situation. Then, finally, we landed in Ho Chi Minh City!
Waiting
We knew we were going to meet our daughter less than two days after our arrival, just to recover from the jet lag. Everything happened so fast during those hours. We settled into the hotel, we prepared for the arrival of our child. OUR CHILD! Unbelievable! When our resource person phoned from the hotel lobby on D-Day and told us to meet her downstairs as she was waiting for us with transportation to get to the orphanage, our hearts sank. upset and beat much faster than usual.
On the way to Vung Tau, located in another province of Vietnam, we obtained all the existing official papers of our child, as well as his history of abandonment. I read the text three times before passing it tomy spouse, his eyes in the water. Abandoned the day after her birth… At least we had some details for that day when she will ask us what happened. The two-hour ride to the orphanage in Vung Tau felt like an eternity. However, when we parked and entered this large white building, the weather raced again. A child of about 3 years old threw himself on us, giving us a hug, smiling. It's a heartbreaker…trust me.
Life-changing encounter
While we were signing documents allowing us to leave the country with our child, I felt a sweet sensation. I turned around and there she was, in the arms of her sweet nanny who had taken care of her since birth. She was a little frozen, watching us, then closed her eyes to rest. 3 months… only 3 months of life and brought to live all that. We approached her very slowly, the nanny smiled at us. We caressed her face then, seeing that she showed no obvious resistance, the nanny placed her in my arms. Moment of grace. Time stopped. My partner took a picture and then captured the moment on our video camera. As if a bubble surrounded us. Nothing mattered except the three of us, our little family unit.
Three weeks in Vietnam to get to know each other then the return to Quebec. We have been back here for 2 months already, almost 3 months since we have our child with us. Every day we takecare to show our little love that we will always be there for her, that from now on it will be us who will be in her life. We are finally us!
Chantal Massicotte, adoptive motherIn addition to being the mother of a little girl of Vietnamese origin, I am a specialized social work technician in employability and social reintegration. I am also a "godmother" in international adoption, a function by which I am led to help, support and advise the future parents who are recommended to me in all stages of their project for the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. You can also follow my journey on my blog.
