Chinese government tells us Matthew was abandoned at birth

** Adoption countdown: 7 days until Pam, Terry and Matthew return home **

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

ZHENGZHOU, China (Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008, 6:15 p.m.) – We finally learned about how our son wound up an orphan and, ultimately, a part of our lives – but we still don’t and will never know all of the details.

Plain and simple, Matthew was found abandoned on the steps of the Civil Affairs office in XianXiang. Officials estimated he was two days old.

From there, Matthew found his way to the local orphanage. And then the orphanage managed to send Matthew to Beijing for treatment of his club foot.

That’s about it. We and Holt International Children’s Servicesa have no additional information.

Echo, our Holt escort here in Zhengzhou, speculated that Matthew may have been the son of rural residents, possibly a farmer, who were unable to afford the medical treatment he needed.

As for Matthew himself, he seems more at ease with us today. He still speaks in Mandarin, saying such things as “I want more” at dinner and “Baba pick me up” when he sees me.

But other U.S. families who we have run into here in Zhengzhou, including a few who have adopted children before, tell us not to worry. They say Matthew should quickly begin to learn to speak English.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.