Alex's Adoption
By John Fiske

In June 1998 Mary and I attended an informational meeting about adoption held at the Alliance for Children. At the meeting we asked no questions. Afterwards, we did not once discuss what we had learned. Then one evening in December of that same year, the topic came up and we contacted the Alliance.

Around the beginning of June 1999, after the home study and once all the paperwork had been completed, we received our referral. We had seen photographs of several waiting children in an orphanage in Romania. I remembered Alex's picture because his birth date is December 9 and mine is December 10. Also, in that picture, which we still have, Alex looked scared, miserable and borderline unhealthy. Seeing his frightened little face made us want to bring him to be with us at once. We sent the referral information to Dr. Laurie Miller at the New England Medical Center. As an expert on internationally adopted children, she offered a guarded opinion that Alex looked ok, and we formally accepted the referral.

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long. On August 2 we arrived at the orphanage in Campulung, northwest of Bucharest. We were led to a large room, which Mary referred to as the "toy museum" because of the pitifully large number of unused toys, and within five minutes Alex was brought in. He explored the toys; we watched and tried to engage him, but we did not know the lad, nor did he know us. Within an hour, after signing a few papers, we left, with Mary carrying barefoot Alex under one arm. Our drivers whisked us, at breakneck speed, back to Bucharest, a three hour drive away.

We spent the next nine or ten days in Bucharest. We stayed in a three room apartment in one of Ceaucescu's plain, unforgiving, concrete apartment buildings right on a main boulevard not far from the absurdly large Peoples' House, built by the deposed dictator. These buildings, which are emblematic of his policies, dominate Bucharest.

We went for walks, explored, and found several interesting Orthodox churches, as well as a McDonalds. The apartment had a phone, so we were able to talk with our families at home. We found our way around the local area and became quite self-sufficient.

On August 10 we obtained Alex's via from the U.S. Consulate, where at least fifteen other American families awaited visas for their children.

We departed the next day. Waiting at the Bucharest airport for our flight, I watched a big fat yellow sun swing up over the trees outside. Another hot day in Bucharest. Alex cried and cried inconsolably during the entire two-hour flight to Zurich! Upon arrival in Zurich we discovered that our connecting flight to Boston was five hours late. Oh no!! Mercifully, the Zurich airport has a fantastic nursery! There it was that we found peace … and there it was that Alex had big diarrhea. The staff were wonderfully helpful in every way, and we finally made it clean onto the flight!

Alex slept on the long flight to Boston. Neither Mary nor I did, we were too overcome with a new emotion – we were parents! We didn't want to take our eyes off Alex for a moment, didn't want to risk waking from this incredible dream.

Before we knew it, we were being disgorged into Terminal Five at Logan Airport. Our lives with Alex, who is now a happy, growing and talking four-and-a-half year old, began.