First Americans to Adopt from Nanchang Orphanage

To the best of my knowledge, my husband and I were the first Americans to adopt from Nanchang. We adopted our daughter in October 1992. Her name then was Wu Dong Xuan which means triumph in the East. Her birthday is February 26, 1991 and her name has something to do with Nanchang history and a great victory at that time. We visited the orphanage several times. However our daughter was 20 months old at the time and we were totally focussed on her getting to know us and to not be frightened of us. Also, we always had a taxi and an interpreter waiting so our visits were short. I was so stressed at the time that my film for most of the photos in the orphanage wasn't loaded properly. Mrs. Chen Lingling, the director, handled everything for us.

The conditions at the orphanage in 1992 were grim but not horrible. The caretakers did the best that they could with too little time and too many children. They tried very hard and I believe they genuinely cared about these children. Someone certainly cared for my daughter. She was not at all physically delayed. She ran around the orphanage and later the hotels. A friend's daughter was adopted at the same age, and at about the same time from a different orphanage, and could not crawl or walk then. Today both girls lead their kindergarden class in road races and are happy and well adjusted.

Travelling alone was very stressful and we never knew what would happen next. When we were there the people had never seen Westerners with a Chinese baby so we were like a tourist attraction. But everyone tried to make us comfortable. We are happy to see so many groups now travelling to Nanchang now for adoption!

We would love to here from other families who have adopted or are adopting from Jiangxi Province. Please e-mail me at webmaster@gurrad.com if you would like to post a photo or other contact information.