The Wood River Families with Children from Asia recently celebrated the holidays at the home of Annie and Greg Bloomfield in Bellevue. More than a dozen families in the valley have adopted, or are planning to adopt, from Asia. The Bloomfield's younger daughter, Gabrielle, is the valley's most recent Asian adoptee, while two other families await their children and expect to travel to China soon to be united with them.
The WRFCA is a local support group for all adoptive families. Included are families with children from China, Korea, Russia, the Ukraine and the United States.
WRFCA is also open to families who may be considering adoption, those waiting for children and any family with children of Asian heritage.
"We try to keep the bond between all the families so the kids will have a link with other families that have the same kind of makeup," said Vicki Browne, one of the core members of the group.
China has a restrictive one-child policy. Because many families favor boys, girls are most commonly the ones available for adoption outside of the country. Browne said many of the adopted girls here in the valley have older male siblings.
She added that the group in general has about 30 families. Some of them are exploring their choices, some have already adopted, and some are still in the consideration phase.
"We really do want to be a resource for anyone in the community interested in adoption, whether it's Asian or domestic or Eastern Europe," said Browne, whose daughter Lexi is now 9 and the oldest of the group. "The most active members have children from China but we expanded to other countries, but that is the core group. Some of our families are part-time families, and occasionally someone comes to our monthly coffee chat and goes on to adopt. It's what I live for."
In February, WRFCA is hosting its annual Chinese New Year party for the adoptive community. A special candle-lighting ceremony honoring the bond between child, adoptive parents and birth parents is a touching highlight of the evening. Children are encouraged to dress in traditional clothing and participate in a dragon dance and the firecracker stomp, otherwise known as jumping on bubblewrap.
"Some families go to San Francisco for the Chinese New Year so they have that connection," Browne said. "This year, we're taking Lexi to China, on an orphanage tour (where she lived until adopted at age 14 months), and other places to show her her roots. A lot of families are thinking about taking the girls back now that that they're older."
WRFCA also hosts a coffee chat for all adoptive families and people exploring adoption the first Friday of each month at 9 a.m. at Zaney's coffee house in Hailey.
For more information on WRFCA, contact Browne at 622-7999 or Nancy Penrose at 726-9103.
Several valley children, who were adopted from Asia, posed during their holiday celebrations. In the top row, from left, are: Storey Pearson, Lexi Browne, Niki Penrose and Paige Pearson. Bottom row, from left, are: Grace Bloomfield, Hanna Leili Pedersen, Caroline Corker, Ebi Bell and Cambria Morris.
Photo by Ray Pedersen
