Welcome to America, Emma

Mandy Morello, a Facebook friend and local journalist, wrote this piece for the American River Messenger. Thanks for letting me share it here, Mandy!

For several months I have had the privilege to read as the Klein Family shared their journey to adopt their second child, Emma Nichole Asnakech Klein from far off Africa on their Facebook pages. This young couple, Aaron and Cacey, adopted their first child, Spencer, from South Korea. As I looked through their profile and took a glimpse into this young family’s life, the problem of orphaned children around the world became more of a reality.

I came across staggering statistics about worldwide orphans during the 2 year celebration of Spencer’s Adoption Day. Aaron posted “There are 134 million orphaned children around the world. 130,000 waiting for forever families in the U.S. foster care system. Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan. Every 15 seconds a child loses a parent to AIDS. And my favorite statistic: it only takes ONE person to make a difference in the life of a child. You!”

Almost a year after adopting Spencer, the Kleins decided to start the process of adopting another child in October of 2008.

There would be a few posts about their process, but mostly they shared about their love and excitement of their son Spencer. On July 2, 2009 the excited couple announced that they will be parents again! They were given the name and photo of their new baby girl born April 18, 2009, Emma Nichole Asnakech Klein. They posted, “Her birth mother gave her the Ethiopian name, which means “no one is like her.” She is currently at the Holt International Care Center in Durame, and we expect to travel to Addis Ababa in two to four months to bring her home, depending on the legal process and visas, etc.”

On December 20, Cacey and Aaron began their 11 day journey to Africa to bring their new daughter to America! Spencer stayed back with grandparents who also helped the growing family finalize the purchase of their new home. The Facebook posts were frequent and exciting. The 32 hour plane rides, countries they had to travel through and obstacles they hurdled were shared including the much awaited first sight of their “beautiful little princess.”

As the adoption process was being finalized on December 29th, Aaron posted “Stuck in Africa. Need a few Congressional Offices to Advocate to Federal Government.” Remember, this is two days before New Year’s and during Winter Break for government officials. Within an hour, this social network began helping the Kleins. They posted that there were over 100 reposts and re-tweets to help get Emma to America. The next post read, “McClintock’s Office on the Case.” The waiting game began. We saw posts about the farewell ceremony from the Care Center and their first night together at the hotel. The next morning waiting on the computer screen was a post, “”Aaron, they give you your visa today. Your “Senator” say” Our Profound thanks to Congressman McClintock and his amazing staff!”

Finally, the 2 day journey back home began. More Facebook posts about their layovers, including a stop in Sudan, and an invitation for anyone who would like to welcome them home. Finally arriving at Sacramento International Airport at 11:53 pm on New Years Day, Spencer finally saw his little sister for the first time! This beautiful little girl is now home with her family. She will have opportunities and freedoms in life that she would never have had in Africa thanks to a loving couple that traveled around the world to receive her, a remarkable elected leader and a social network. I am thankful that I was able to be part of one of the happiest and special days of their lives all thanks to a Facebook “Friend Request.”

Mandy…what can we say? We feel the same. Thanks for raising awareness on orphan care and adoption in this way!