We thought the Ferris family was complete, Gillian and John had two healthy children Ben and Rachel, but way back in 1996 Gillian was ironing one evening (John was out playing tennis) when on Channel 4 a programme called ‘The Dying Rooms’ was being broadcast which showed the plight of abandoned baby girls in China using footage of film obtained illegally in the orphanages which had been set up to deal with the problem. It was a very powerful and provoking programme, the type which makes you think ‘could I do something about it?’ Early the following year (Feb. 1997) an article appeared in the LEP about a couple who had already adopted from China and at the end of the article Geoff and Jacqui Shurr were encouraging other people to do the same and gave a contact telephone number. Gillian eventually phoned them and spoke to Jacqui at great length only to discover that they were Christians, had two birth children who were similar ages to Ben and Rachel, lived in Penwortham and their children went to the same nursery. After spending an evening with Geoff and Jacqui and talking to our families and close friends we contacted our local Social Services Department in June, 1997. We spent the next 12 months phoning and writing letters asking when our home study would start as we had to go through the same process as if we were adopting from England.

Eventually we went on an overseas adoption course in February, 1998 with a number of other people who were hoping to adopt from abroad. After the course we waited to hear when we could start our home study, eventually we started in May, 1998. We were assigned two social workers who we met every month until December of the same year. Our case went to the Lancashire Adoption Panel

on 12 January, 2000 where we were given approval to adopt a baby girl from China aged 0-9 months. All our papers were then sent to the Department of Health for further approvals. The papers were sent to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Chinese Embassy and then had to come back to Preston to be notarised by a solicitor. Eventually our dossier of papers were sent to China on 3 April, 2000. We had hired a guide in China, Chris Tao Ping, to keep an eye on our papers and we e-mailed him on a regular basis for any update on information he could give us. Then began the long wait. Since we had decided to adopt from China we had called our baby Rebecca and so Rebecca became part of our family.

There is a good support network for people adopting from China and we joined two organisations and made many new friends, all in the same boat as us. We were hoping to be matched with Rebecca before Christmas 2000, but the Chinese went a few months without matching anyone from England. Some friends of ours were matched in February, 2001 and we then knew that we were in the next batch to be matched. Nine days later on 3 March, 2001, 11 months after our papers had been sent to China, we were matched with our baby Dang Fu Xin – now to be called Rebecca Fu Xin. She was from a Social Welfare Institute in the Sichuan Province.

So at long last we could start to plan our trip to China to collect and bring home Rebecca, but on 22 March John came home from work to say that our two social workers had contacted him at work to say they wanted to come round that evening to see us. We guessed straight away that there was a problem and we were unfortunately right – they informed us that Rebecca had died of acute pneumonia, we were devastated. Rebecca had been part of our family for the best part of 3 years. The Chinese Authorities had said they would rematch us with another baby as soon as possible.

We received so many cards and flowers and the Chinese kept their promise. On 2 April the postman rang the door bell and in his hand was a large brown envelope with details of another baby, Tan Guang Ya. As a family we had decided to call her Bethany Guang Ya. Our guide in China had e-mailed us to say he wanted us to fly to China on 21 April so we began a frantic search for flights, waiting for our permission to travel from China and going to the Chinese Embassy in Manchester to get our visa’s, hoping all the time that nothing would happen to Bethany. At last everything was ready, bags packed, gifts for orphanage carers, baby clothes for children in the orphanage and lots of money! Gillian had been working at Morrisons as a check out operator 2 evenings a week to help fund the adoption, they let her finish early on the last Friday before we flew. So on Saturday 21 April, 2001 we left Ben and Rachel with Gillian’s parents and flew to Beijing from Manchester via Heathrow. We arrived on Sunday 22 April and later that day flew to Changsha with 6 other couples to collect our daughters. The other 6 couples were to receive their babies on the Sunday evening. When we eventually arrived at our 5 star deluxe hotel we were all located in adjacent rooms on the 30^th floor. Just before 9pm the lift doors opened and out walked 6 carers carrying 6 Chinese babies – it brought a lump to our throats. Bethany was not one of these babies as she was from a local orphanage so we had agreed to receive her the following morning after a good nights sleep! The other babies had had a 10 hour transfer from their orphanage and were very tired and grumpy.

After our breakfast on Monday we went to our room and waited for a call from Chris to say we could go and collect Bethany. At 10am on the dot the phone rang and we rushed to Chris’s room. When we walked into the room Bethany was sat on a carers knee very quietly. One of the Dads who had received his daughter the night before came with us to video the occasion. The carer immediately put Bethany into Gillian’s arms, she whimpered a little but settled quickly and soon went to sleep. We used this opportunity to ask the carers questions about Bethany, they didn’t know anything about her past but told us about her eating and sleeping habits. We handed over some gifts and clothes for the carers and children and then took Bethany back to our room where she was given a bath in Johnson’s baby products (which we had been buying since we were approved at panel). Bethany was in good condition but very quiet. By Tuesday she had begun to laugh and since that day she has blossomed and flourished. While in Changsha we had to do some paperwork and finally on 26 April Bethany legally became our daughter.

On the Thursday we were allowed to visit Bethany’s orphanage – very few families are given this opportunity. We were first taken to the office where we handed overour ‘love gift’ and were then taken to Bethany’s floor of a large building. She had been on the 6^th floor and one of the carers wanted to carry Bethany – Gillian reluctantly agreed but Bethany wasn’t too happy. By the time we reached the lift, our guide Chris suggested that Bethany be given back to her Mum. When we reached the 6^th floor we went along to Bethany’s room, there were no carpets on the floor, it was in need of a coat of paint and had a distinctive smell. We were told we could not video the rooms but could take photographs. About 15 children greeted us and one little girl ran up to Bethany and called ‘Ya Ya’ which was apparently her pet name in the orphanage. We were shown the cot she slept in but Bethany would not let us put her down near it. The children were being fed as we were there and they were sat in wooden chairs fastened to the wall and all fed from the same bowl with the same spoon. At this point Gillian wanted to shout ‘stop, we’ll take them all back to England with us’. Our guide assured us that all the children in the room would be adopted at some time, we hope he was right. We were then shown to the playroom which was very tidy and didn’t have many toys – it was here that Bethany had played, or so they told us. While we were in this room the lady appeared who had brought Bethany to the hotel and asked if she could hold her and have a photograph taken. Bethany cried and cried so we abandoned that idea. Before we left we were all invited back some time in the future, but it was great to be able to go back so soon with Bethany to see where she had spent the first few months of her life.

After visiting the orphanage it struck Gillian for the first time that we had rescued Bethany, since starting the adoption process it had never crossed our minds that we were saving a baby – but after that visit it had. It was also a survival of the fittest which, thank God, Bethany had been. After leaving the orphanage and taking a few more photographs and shedding a tear we set off in a taxi to find the place where Bethany had been left by her Chinese parents at 3 months old. A very patient, kind and cheap taxi driver took us there – it was a busy run-down street. We were able to photograph and video the scenes and again are very fortunate to have been able to visit the place with Bethany and will be able to share the photographs with her when she can understand.

We flew back to Beijing on Friday 27 April and stayed in another luxury hotel. The only paperwork we had to do was to get a visa for Bethany from the British Embassy. The rest of the time was free for us to do the sightseeing trips, Tianaman Square, the Great Wall, go shopping, drink coffee in Starbuck’s and even enjoy a McDonalds. While confirming our return flights with BA we met a chap who came from Fulwood and used to live in Highgate Avenue, his wife was born in Penwortham (it is a small world). On our last night in Beijing we all went out for a meal and decided that every year around the date we received our new daughters we would have a reunion at a hotel and share our experiences.

After a long and eventful journey home we finally landed at Manchester at 7 pm on 1 May where we were met by Stephen, Myrtle, Joseph, Ben and Rachel plus some friends who had just arrived home from China before us.

Bethany settled very quickly in the Ferris family, being accepted and loved by all. She has a great love of chocolate and crisps but isn’t keen on going to bed at night. Things have improved since we took her out of a cot and put her in a bed – the nightmares seem to have subsided. Ben and Rachel are proving to be a wonderful big brother and sister to Bethany and we are confident it is their influence that has brought Bethany on so fast.

We have been home just over one year now, yes things have changed – people stare when we are out and about but we haven’t yet had any negative comments about what we have done. It took us nearly 3 years to get Bethany, it was at times hard, emotional and exciting and we wouldn’t have got through it without the love, support, encouragement, prayers and financial help of so many friends and family – we will be forever grateful for this. People often say to us how lucky Bethany is , but we both know that we are the fortunate ones – Bethany has brought us much joy, happiness and love into our lives as both Ben and Rachel have.

What about the future? We hope to go back to China in a few years as a family to visit Bethany’s orphanage as well as the tourist sights. We will also never forget Rebecca – if she hadn’t been matched with us for those 3 short weeks before she died, Bethany would not have become part of our family. Why these things happen we don’t know, but she will always have a special place in our hearts.

Would we go back to China for another baby? Well if you ask John you will get a different answer than if you ask Gillian, Ben and Rachel!! For the time being we will enjoy the children we’ve got.