Elizabeth’s Story

My husband and I thought our family was complete.  I was blessed to be able to carry 2 children, but my body had a very difficult time during both of my pregnancies and I was advised by my doctors not to get pregnant again.  For years, I grieved the "loss" of our dream to have more children.  I was known as the baby stalker at my church because if I spotted a baby, it wasn't long before I snagged it from the parents.  After watching an interview on television about a boy who had been abandoned, I thought, "Oh my goodness, we could adopt!"  The second my husband walked through the door from work, I started telling him how we had to adopt and I was sobbing and I am sure he didn't understand a word I was saying, but he let me finish and said "OK, lets look in to it"  I left that evening for a meeting and when I returned, I found my husband in his comfy chair with his computer.  He said, "Babe, you have to see these children in China.  This is where our daughter is."  That was it.  We called Bethany Christian Services the next day and started our adoption journey.  We knew that we wanted a baby girl although I have no idea why.  We just kept saying we wanted the youngest possible "healthy" baby girl that China would allow us to parent. Until one day our social worker mentioned that their list of special needs children had arrived and all of the children but one deaf girl was assigned to a family.  I hung up the phone and thought, "deaf girl...I know ASL and have a lot of experience with deaf people".  I called her back and asked to see the file.  The minute I saw her, I knew she was a McKenzie.  She wasn't a baby and she was not classified as "healthy", but I knew this is the child we had prayed for. I called my husband and he rushed home and he also knew.  This was our daughter.  We switched from the non-special needs program to the special needs program and one of the greatest adventures of our lives began.

Elizabeth was born in Luoyang, Henan China in 2003 and spent 2 years in an orpahange.  The orphange that she lived in is one of the larger ones. Housing about 500 children.  Many of them special needs.  Since Elizabeth was deaf, she was sent to New Day Foster Home in Beijing, China.  New Day is a group foster home that takes care of special needs children.  Elizabeth received a lot of love and care at New Day and we are grateful for the time she spent there. On October 14th, 2005, we meet our daughter in a hotel room in Beijing.  She was this chubby cheeked ball of joy that just lit up the room. Elizabeth had very little language, but she didn't let that stop her from letting us know what she wanted.  She had quite a set of lungs on her and had no problems letting us know when we had upset her.   Elizabeth has been home for 2 years now and is growing in amazing ways.  She no longer screams to communicate, as she has caught up to her peers in language and signs above her age level. She is a happy, bright girl who loves life.  She loves to fly, go on car trips, run fast, eat, dance, and do anything that involves moving. She found an affinity for  chocolate in China and it continues to be one of her favorite treats along with her special friend LeeLee.