Chinese teen with eye problems adopted by Edmonton couple
David and Hellen Ream, five-year-old ChenMin, whom they adopted in 2011, and the newest member of the family 14-year-old ZiYe in China on Feb. 9, the day they picked her up from the orphanage.
EDMONTON - An Edmonton couple has successfully adopted a 14-year-old Chinese orphan with congenital eye problems that would leave her blind without medical attention.
ZiYe (pronounced zee-yaw), who is scheduled to fly to Edmonton later this month with David and Hellen Ream and their five-year-old adopted daughter ChenMin (shun-meen), has an eye appointment March 17 at the University Hospital’s pediatric ophthalmology clinic.
The Reams, who work as translators of online documents, also have three biological children who are in university and live at home.
The couple fast-tracked the adoption process so they could adopt ZiYe before her 14th birthday on Feb. 14, when she would have aged out of the adoption system.
Members of their church — Meadowlands Baptist — and strangers who learned of their story helped the couple raise $30,000 toward the $43,000 cost.
Last fall, Hellen came across a story about ZiYe on an American adoption website. It said the girl wanted to be adopted by a foreign family. The Reams soon decided they wanted to be that family.
ZiYe only learned a week before her new parents arrived that she would be leaving the orphanage and China. “She was told by the people at the orphanage and from what we could gather she was filled with excitement and fear at the same time,” David wrote in an email from China.
“When we got her she was painfully shy, but still very polite. She still is very shy, but is now much more at home with us, as we are with her. She smiles spontaneously now and is really sweet.”
The family celebrated ZiYe’s birthday with 14 candles on a cake she picked out herself. They gave her a bracelet they had bought in Canada.
The family has been staying in hotels in the cities of Hefei and Beijing as they get to know each other. ZiYe has some vision, but reads and writes braille.
“She is very smart and told us math is her favourite subject,” David wrote.
Communicating has been a challenge. Translators are helping as the Reams work to gather the required paperwork, photographs and oaths.
Cellphones with translation apps are helping with the language barrier, and so are hand gestures.
“ZiYe is speaking a few words of English to us,” David wrote, “and we are picking up quite a bit of basic Mandarin.
“The only snag in the system is the Canadian government.” The family is waiting for documents it needs for ZiYe to travel, he explained.
Hellen, David and their daughters are scheduled to be back in Edmonton Feb. 24.
Last week, ZiYe asked to return to the orphanage to give her new family a tour, take part in a New Year’s celebration, and say a final goodbye to her friends. “There were more tears from her friends at the orphanage, but none from ZiYe, as if she were the lucky one,” David wrote.
“She seems to be positively resolute that this is happening and we have a feeling that this is how it is supposed to be.”