Part 1 is available here.


As I mentioned in Part 1, I am fascinated by why families accept a referral to a specific child. There are 2 basic stories; analytical reaction and emotional reaction.


I shared the analytical reactions in part 1. The emotional reactions are below. Since people are more likely to share their emotional reactions, I have more of of these types of stories. I will have a "part 3" tomorrow with additional reactions.


There is a story below where the family adopted 2 children and had different reactions. The family had an emotional reaction/immediate connection for the first son. They experienced an analytical reaction for the second son.


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It took me about 5 minutes to know that the baby was our son! He looked me deep in the eyes and gave me a little smile when I held him. I was hooked. I said "He's perfect! He has my eyes!"

Then I remembered that I had brought my husband.

OOPS.... "What do you think????" Thank goodness, he agreed.

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I fell in love with both of them on sight.

I worried that the girl had some autism. She would just stand in the corner of her room at the orphanage and rock.

I decided that it didn't matter; she was coming home with me regardless. Her personality started emerging right after we left the orphanage. Turns out that one of the girls in her groupa was autistic. My daughter would mimic her behaviors.

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We adopted children older then we expected. We were apprehensive about even going to the orphanage for older children. Luckily we agreed to look. We immediately KNEW the boy was our son.

We STILL do not know what possessed us to adopt our second son. It was not love at first sight and no one pushed us into it. We cannot imagine life without him.

It was just meant to be.

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My husband was in love right off from our son's picture. I knew the minute he was brought in the door to us at the Orphanage.


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We adopted 2 children. It was love at first sight with the first child.... in both directions.

The second child we adopted... That child in the adoption center photo looked somehow hardened. But in real life... now... Our child, is happy, tender, and full of lust for life.

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I knew she was my daughter almost immediately. I didn't know why. But I had a strong reaction to her.

Maybe because she is the image of my niece. To this day people comment about how much they look alike. I didn't register the similarity at the time but was probably unconsciously affected by this familiarity.

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The instant we saw him, we knew he was ours. It wouldn't have mattered what age he was. We knew him as if he had always been a part of us.

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Accepting a Referral

Love and Accepting a Referral
Accepting the Referral for My Daughter
Accepting a Referral: Other Families Stories Part 1
Accepting a Referral: Other Families Stories Part 2
Accepting a Referral: Other Families Stories Part 3