Megan Houle -- also lovingly known as Su Xuewei -- is leaving Shanghai and her foster parents of 10 years for a new life and final corrective surgery with her adoptive parents, the Houles in Rochester, New York.
The Houles from Rochester, New York, arrive at the Chens. The Houles are a happy and harmonious family, as seen by everyone's smile.
Little Kathy sleeps snug in mom Sandy's arms. Daddy Jim and the eldest son Kellan make sure that they have all the family suitcases.
Megan, the second-eldest child, takes care of her younger siblings, Patrick and Grace. She keeps them occupied with all kinds of snacks and toys.
Just the day before, Megan Houle met the Houles for the first time at the Shanghai Children's Welfare Center. Just the day before, Megan was still Su Xuewei, a foster child who lived 10 years with the Chens. Now she has been adopted by the Houles and will be returning with them to the United States in a few days. The 12-year-old only speaks a few words of English.
Su is a name that stirred Chinese hearts five years ago when everyone read in Shanghai Daily about the malformed body she was born with and the touching story of Su and Chen Bo, her foster mother.
Two months after her birth, Su was abandoned by her parents, possibly due to her malformed urinary and intestinal tract. She was sent to Shanghai Children's Welfare Center and then transferred to the hospital, where doctors also found other problems; she also was born without an anus.
According to Su's foster mom, Chen, the little body endured six major operations as well as countless minor ones over the following four months.
Six years ago, doctors made more depressing discoveries. Su lacks a reproductive system and has a spinal cord cavity, meaning she lacks part of her nervous system. More operations.
"When my daughter first brought her home, she was two years old but weighed less than five kilograms. Even the clothes of little dolls would look big on her," Gu Shiying, Su's foster grandmother, tells the Houles. She shows them pictures of baby Su.
Gu's nurse daughter, Chen, felt connected to the unfortunate girl as she took care of her in the children's hospital 10 years ago. That first-sight connection developed into a close bond and soon became a foster home procedure.
Now, Su has been a member of the Chen family for 10 years and eight months.
"She is now 1.55 meters tall and almost 50 kilograms, taller than half of her classmates," Chen Lisheng, Su's foster grandfather, proudly says.
Gu and Chen have their own grandchildren, but spend most of their time with Su. Chen helps her do homework every night until 11pm.
"She needs more love and care. We want her to feel like and become a normal child," the grandfather says.
Though the operations have not completely repaired her malformations, the family's warm hearts and care certainly have provided her enough support to live as a normal child.
"I get along with people very easily and I am the most optimistic one (in the welfare center)," Su cheerfully says.
When God closes a door, he opens a window. In the case of Su, it is more than one window. Many altruistic people care for the little girl.
"Mr. Ye is a truly charitable man. He put in so much effort to help make this happen," says Chen.
Ye refers to Ye Jin, an average Chinese-American who works in the United States and occasionally returns to China. Ye learned about Su's situation when he returned to Shanghai to take care of his severely ill father.
He posted information about Su on an international adoption Website. The Houles responded. Ye thought of international adoption when he found out that Su had been completely cured, though some future surgical repairs will be needed.
Sandy Houle saw the picture of Su at the adoption agency where she volunteers. "Su looked like our daughter Kathy -- her picture is how we expected Kathy would grow up to look," says Sandy as she puts down two-year-old Kathy. The Houles adopted Kathy two years ago from Shaanxi Province.
And Kathy is not the first family member from China. Five years ago, they adopted Grace from Jiangxi Province. Together with Kellan and Patrick, their natural sons, the family already has four children, more than three in an average American family.
Now, they welcome Su, now named Megan Houle.
"We have a large house, but we are not like rich or anything. At first, we adopted Grace because we wanted a daughter. Why bring another life into the world while there are so many waiting to be taken care of?" asks Sandy. "Two years ago, we thought we could look after another child.
"When we adopted Kathy, we saw a lot of older kids and kids with special needs. It is much more difficult for them to get adopted. But they also need a family, in fact, they need care more than anyone else."
Taking in an older child became a frequent topic in the family and then they learned of Su's case.
They made the decision after thoroughly studying her situation, medical history and future needs.
Sandy is a midwife and used to be a pediatric nurse caring for ailing newborns. Jim is also familiar with the situation because one of his sons from a previous marriage had a similar birth defect.
Before and after making a decision, they consulted medical experts familiar with Megan's condition.
"She will need another operation in the States. Most possibly and hopefully, it will take care of all her problems," says Sandy.
The Chens are happy for the good news, though also sad that Su will be leaving.
"We want the best for her and we are glad that she will receive more advanced medical treatment and will be cured completely," says Gu. "But it's sad to see her go. I feel like marrying out my granddaughter."
"It is not easy for me to leave a home where I grew from a little ailing baby to a sociable teenager," Su says. "I will miss my mom, my granddad and grandmom. I will definitely come back to visit them. Actually, I hope they can come visit me, too."
Kind hearts move beyond any barriers, be it language, culture, religion or race. We hope the best for Megan Houle.
(Shanghai Daily November 22, 2006)
