Meeting Birth Parents

Prior to travelling to Taiwan, the time available for us to make our arrangements was short.  We had to wait for Chung Yi (adoption agency) to give the green light for going.  We received word two weeks prior to the date assigned for picking up Maylee from the orphanage.  Immediately, airline tickets were booked, but the search for accommodations was a bit more problematic.  For Taipei, as soon as we searched for a room for two adults and two young children, nothing showed as available.  As a result, we fudged the search by requesting two rooms, each with two adults and one child, plus one room for one adult.  Then, once in our rooms at Taipei M Hotel, both children stayed with Rick and Christine in the largest room.  Housekeeping staff were aware of the arrangement, and no concerns were expressed by any hotel authorities.

When we searched for rooms in Tainan's hotels, we were surprised that options for a family of four including two small children existed, with Silks Place listed at the top of the results.  It was more expensive than our default price range, but the rooms looked spacious, it had a pool (Bo LOVES swimming) and a children's play area.  We booked it.  When we arrived yesterday (October 28), we were pleasantly surprised to find that everything about the hotel more than lived up to its online claims.  Before the trip began, we had been hoping to spend the last five or six days in the more picturesque south or east of Taiwan, close to a beach.  We had the same difficulties for those areas as for Taipei in finding suitable accommodations for a family with two young children, so we decided to book Silks Place in Tainan for the full second half of our trip.  That now seems to have been a wise decision.  Also, it gives a more continuous environment for Maylee's adjustment to her new life - only two moves for her instead of three or four before the big move to Canada.

Children's play area in Silks Place

Silks Place pool

Playground in park across the street from Silks Place

Fun in the playground

The main reason for coming to Tainan was to fulfill the wish of Maylee's birth parents to meet her adoptive family.  That meeting occurred today (October 29).  Irene, the social worker with Chung Yi, came from Taipei to accompany Christine, Rick, Bo and Maylee to the lunch meeting at a facility that had a children's play area.  Maylee's older sisters came to the meeting also.  The birth mother spoke very little English, and the birth father spoke none.  Irene translated when needed.  The mother said that she was very happy that Maylee was being adopted by Christine and Rick.

Adoptive family with birth family