John Mark's Story

John-Mark Haddick

Our son is a miracle in two ways--its a miracle that we were able to adopt him, and its a miracle that he is alive at all!

After we adopted our daughter from China, we had a strong desire to adopt again! We were preparing our paperwork to adopt again from China when we learned about children immediately available for adoption in Vietnam. Our agency had been told that we could adopt a particular baby girl--we were so excited! But, after months of the adoption being on and off several times, our agency representative visited Vietnam and found that something was not right with our case. We were unable to adopt this beautiful child we had been waiting for! Our agency felt it would be better to work in a different part of the country, so we waited for months while they tried to get reestablished. When it looked as if our wait would go on indefinitely, we were ready to withdraw our paperwork and move on. However, two weeks later, we received a referral for our son who was then 2 months old! I can't tell you how surprised and thrilled we were!

Three months later, my husband brought home my new son and I held my 10-lb, 5 month old son for the first time. He was sleeping when I lifted him from the infant carrier, but he soon opened his eyes and broke into a gorgeous grin! It was only after he came home that we learned from his medical records that he weighed 3 lbs, 12 oz. at birth, was premature, had pneumonia, problems eating, severe reflux--all typical problems for premature infants. When I think about him spending the first five weeks of his life in the hospital, fighting for his life, with no parents to urge him on, I know it was a miracle of God that he survived. Today he is still tiny, but beautiful and energetic--he wears me out! He has a sparkling personality and makes friends wherever he goes! Our second miracle baby...

Alice Haddick, Mother