“Mom, how long were you in labor with me? Did I cry a lot right away?” I’ve never had the chance to ask those questions to my mom because, for me, it was more along the lines of, “What was it like waiting for me to get off the plane? How long did the process take to adopt?” I didn’t enter into my family via my birth at a local hospital. I came to my family on a plane six months after I was born, I was adopted and this is my story.

It only took twelve months! Twelve long, anxiety filled months and it all started with my parents applying to adopt and then waiting for the news of being accepted. “It was as if I was really pregnant for you!” my mom tells me now because a lot of the same emotions and pains were comparable during the time they waited. Soon after being accepted, the home study process began. That process consisted of multiple interviews with the Bethany Christian Services caseworker, Chris. Chris asked them questions about their childhoods, how their parents raised them, how they met and the characteristics of each other that they valued, and where their relationship was at that point in life. After those meetings were completed, Chris had to come over and inspect the house. Part of the inspection included making sure the living arrangements were appropriate with a safe room available for me and the house had to be equipped properly for a new baby. The caseworker also talked to my three brothers Ryan, Drew, and Brett. She had to make sure that they were willing and would be ready to accept a new baby into the family. Ryan is ten years older than me, Drew is seven, and Brett is five years older. Brett doesn’t remember a whole lot from that time since he was only five but Drew sometimes tries to remind me of what it was like by trying to imitate the excitement he had that day. He never does it the same twice. It’s sweet of him to try though and to see him get excited all over again. Once the home study was finished, Bethany Christian Services sent my parent’s’ report to South Korea. South Korea was the country they had picked from the very beginning. Also, the very cool thing is that my dad was also adopted from Seoul, South Korea when he was about six months old. Anyway, after South Korea received my parent’s’ report, they mailed back prospects to Bethany, and Bethany contacted my parents to meet and discuss the prospects. The prospects included a recent picture of the child, their medical history, and the present living conditions. When my parents picked me, they received pictures, my doctor checkups, and anything new that Korea could share. In South Korea, I was living in a foster home that I was taken to right after birth. My biological mom wasn’t married and in that country, they don’t allow single mothers. She did a courageous, responsible, selfless, yet difficult act of putting me in foster care.

At that point in the process of adoption, all my parents could do was wait. I’ve heard now from friends that while my family was waiting, my dad carried my picture with him everywhere he went. It was almost like the whole community was waiting because each time my parents went around with friends; they’d ask “Is she here yet? Where is your daughter? How much longer until she arrives?” Bethany had originally notified my parents to let them know that I was going to arrive on July 4, but plans changed as I got pneumonia and was hospitalized. The people involved tried again for July 10, but I was still sick. My family got a call shortly after that saying that I’d be coming to them on July 31! Before they received that call, my dad was about to go to South Korea himself and get me because he was sick of waiting!

The night before everyone was supposed to leave and go pick me up, the power went out. My mom tells me today that she was up almost all night pushing the little light button on the side of her watch to check the time. They were not going to oversleep! My parents woke up at 5am soon following my brothers and then to go get grandma at 5:30 and eventually meeting friends for breakfast. It was a thirteen-hour flight from Kumi City, South Korea to Detroit, Michigan. I flew into Detroit with a family from Jackson, Michigan who had also adopted two Korean children into their family and they wanted to help with my adoption. The plane landed at 10:02am and about twenty minutes later, I met my family for the first time. They were exceeding the feeling of being excited when they saw me and I guess they weren’t expecting an eighteen-pound, six month old baby girl because they actually allowed the family bring me and me to walk right by the first time. My mom says that they had to clean me up right away because I was such a mess after the flight. The only problem was that the outfits that my mom brought were too small! Thankfully, my bag had a few extra shirts and such. And at that point, God had blessed my brothers with a baby sister and my parents with their long awaited daughter.

On February 14, 1996, the adoption was finalized in court. Legally, officially, and permanently, I was Hannah Rae Kiewiet. Why did God pick me to be a part of this family? Why didn’t He have my parents adopt a different baby girl? Nobody knows the answer but we do know, as a family that we wouldn’t have it any other way. Now every year on July 31 we celebrate “Gotcha Day!” the day that we will never ever forget and always be thankful to God for.