Hi! We are the O&'Connells. We have been blessed with 4 biological children. We have also discussed, literally from our first date, how we both had a desire to adopt a child. We started our adoption journey in earnest in the beginning of 2013. We decided to adopt from China largely because of the Waiting Child program. We have had experience with special needs over the last few years with our 3rd daughter, Katie, who, when she was 2, was diagnosed with a very rare, potentially fatal white blood cell disease called LCH (langerhans cell histiocytosis). We are lucky to be only minutes away from the Dana Farber Cancer Center, and with the wonderful doctors and nurses there we are thankful that our daughter has been in remission for over 3 years now, with an excellent prognosis. But that experience, and the fact that our family has emerged from it stronger and closer, has driven us to want to share this precious gift of a loving family with another child. During the adoption process, we decided to pursue a simultaneous adoption, and we had been matched with 2 beautiful little girls from China. Unfortunately, one of them passed away shortly before we could get her home. We did complete the other adoption, and came home in June of 2014 with our newest daughter, Mary. We are now in the process of a second adoption, also from China. We were matched with a girl from Hunan, who just turned 2 in February. It will still take until September until we can get her home, and another $12,000. We are hoping to raise what we can to ease this financial burden.
