Finding Notice

In China, it is illegal to give a child up for adoption. These children cannot be legally turned over to anyone, so they are left to be found by others to be given to the ophanages. Starting in 1999, the orphanages are required to place a "Finding Notice" in the local paper with information about the child including a photo. Brian Stuy is a father with 3 adopted daughters from China. He helps adopting families find their child's Finding Notice.

Yesterday, we received Elijah ZuBin's Finding Notice with the English translation. This first picture is the close up of the ad:


This second picture is the newspaper page the ad was on:

His ad is the second from the right on the bottom row. The English translation reads:

Ad #0574

Qing Zu Bin

A boy. On 1/23/05 he was found near the Wushi Village Committee office, Longping Town, Lianzhou City. He was about 9 days old when found.

Claim unit: Qingyuan City Orphanage

That same day we received his certificate of abandonment from All God's Children International (AGCI, our adoption agency.) This document further explained the Finding Notice. It stated that:

On 1/23/05 an infant boy was found outside the government office of Long Xiang Township Wu Shi Village. The case was reported to the local police. Since we were unable to locate his birth parents and relatives, he is certified as abandoned. I recommend placing him into Qing Yuan City Social Welfare Institute.

It further states that he was healthy and found by Huang Ji Dai.

Oh, how this causes a mother's heart to clench. I am thankful that we have a newborn picture of him. I am so sad for his family, especially his mother. They held this child for 9 days before leaving him at the government office building. What guts that took to leave him there! They could have been caught!

While we are in China, we plan to take a day to visit his orphanage, and then go to his town and finding place. We want to give him as much of his history as we can.

Please pray with us for Elijah ZuBin. That God will be preparing him for our family. Please pray for his birth family. This must have been a terribly hard decision to make. I have nothing but compassion for them. Thank you for your prayers.