Taipei, May 7 (CNA) A childless couple from the United States have finally met the 4-year-old Taiwanese boy they decided to adopt, with the adoptive mother Margaret Weddle hailing the boy as "the greatest gift sent by God" on the eve of Mother's Day." Weddle, 49, said at a news conference Thursday, that both she and her husband Lonnie, a real estate broker, have grown quite fond of Asian cultures and after 26 years of marriage without children, they decided in 2006 to try and adopt a child from Asia. Taiwan was their top choice because they had a lot of confidence in its work related to adoption. When the couple saw the pictures of the boy nicknamed Hsiao Hsun, they decided "he's the one, " Weddle said at the Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation.
The couple said they did not mind when told by the foundation that the boy is "extraordinarily active" -- he has ADHD (attention deficit disorder) -- and comes from a broken family with only the mother known.
In fact, said foundation Executive Director Kao Min-tsu that the the Weddles have inquired in detail about the boy's life and background since first contacting the group last August, and the foundation has told them everything it knows.
At the news conference, Mr. Weddle, also 49, said that he has prepared a room at the couple's Virginia home exclusively for Hsiao Hsun and will teach the boy to fish, swim and play to enable him to lead a happy childhood like any normal American child.
According to Kao, the foundation will keep tracking the life of Hsiao Hsun in America for five years via a cooperative adoption agency in the United States.
Over the past three years, the Chung Yi Foundation has helped nearly 100 Taiwanese orphans or children from poor, broken families find families willing to adopt them, with 90 percent of them being adopted by families from abroad, Kao said.
Of the adopted children, the youngest was 1-year-old and the oldest was 18 years old.
(By Deborah Kuo)
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