There are so many kids waiting to be adopted now, one more would not hurt but I doubt it would help.
so many that folks have to go overseas to adopt.
Adopting kids overseas grows more complicated
By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer
Tommy and Gayle Ohashi pack for their trip with some help from daughter Madison.
Gregory Yamamoto " The Honolulu Advertiser
Gayle and Tommy Ohashi have two baby pictures of a stranger, and they've already fallen in love with her.
This little girl in a Chinese orphanage is the one they've dreamed of to complete their family. So they refuse to let a little global uncertainty stand in the way of an international adoption.
The couple and a daughter they adopted from China two years ago will board a plane today, along with six other parents-to-be from Hawai'i, to meet their new children.
The Ohashis will finally hold a girl named Le Wang. They will rename her Morgan Le Wang Ohashi. They will celebrate her first birthday next week. And they will bring her home to Honolulu.
Kristine Altwies Nicholson counts these families among those "still brave enough to go" despite tension stemming from Sept. 11. Since then, adoption applications at her agency, Hawaii International Child, have dropped by about 50 percent.
She normally sends would-be parents to China, Kazakstan, Russia, Ukraine, Guatemala and Azerbaijan, calming their anxiousness about the adoption process. But bigger fears are getting in the way.
Today, Tommy and Gayle Ohashi head for China's Guangdong province to adopt Le Wang whom they will rename Morgan Le Wang Ohashi.
The Sept. 11 attacks have led to a shift in priorities for U.S. embassies and immigration officials, snagging paperwork for thousands of families waiting to adopt overseas.
Americans adopted 18,477 foreign-born children last year, according to the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse. But the numbers are likely to dip this year as adoption agencies nationwide report a decline in applications.