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The Lacey/Senderovitz Family
The Trip to Molly

Molly's Family

Hello, we are Frank Lacey and Heidi Senderovitz. We are an Irish/Danish couple, living in Denmark near Copenhagen. Frank (the Irishman) is a teacher and I (Heidi - the Dane) work as a marketing coordinator. We have been married for 12 years. Our interests and hobbies are badminton, squash, skiing, reading (modern English-language literature) - and now of course Molly who is our first child.

Molly was born on 19 May 1999 in Hoa Binh near Hanoi. Her Vietnamese name is Bui Thi Hao. She is of the Muong people. Hao means "goodness". Nothing could be more appropriate, as we would later discover! This picture shows Molly being sheltered from the rain in Hanoi by her new daddy. From now on we will both shelter and protect her and give her all the love we can.

We began our adoption process more than three years ago by applying for adoption through the Danish adoption agency, DanAdopt. In Denmark there are currently only two adoption agencies, and you must go through one of them. Theoretically, it is possible to do adoption on a private basis, but it is very difficult and hardly anybody does that, as far as I know. Most adoptive children come to Denmark from India, South Korea, China, Columbia, and Vietnam. Adoptions from Bulgaria, Romania and other Eastern European countries are becoming more popular too. Approx. 500 children are adopted from abroad by Danish families every year.

We applied for adoption in the summer of 1996, posting our application from Italy during our summer holidays. In some areas in Denmark you sometimes wait for many months before the social authorities deal with your case and do the dossier - in our case we waited five months. We got our approval in March 1997. The estimated waiting time for a referral from Vietnam was then anything between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years. We waited nearly 2 1/2 years for the referral of Bui Thi Hao (Molly) (see referral pictures) which we received on June 11 1999. The final paperwork before we could travel took about three months, and on October 7 we left for Hanoi.

Referral

The referral came first by phone. On 11 June 1999 the adoption agency called to say that they had received information about a little girl, born in May 1999. We couldn't believe it - such a little baby! They were not allowed to give us any details yet, as the social authorities had to give their approval first. We arranged a meeting with the social worker who had done our dossier for the following week. On July 1 we went up to meet her and got the details on our daughter. Her name is Bui Thi Hao, born on 19 May 1999 - so she is only about 6 weeks at this stage! There is very little information on the health report which was done on 14 June. It simply states that "she develops normally" and that she weighs 3,1 kgs and measures 51 cm. We don't know anything about her birth weight or anything else about her. No photos yet either. There is quite a lot of information about her biological family, but we are not allowed to disclose any of that information. But we are delighted! A little girl who if all goes well will only be about 4-5 months old when we collect her!

Referral photos at last!

On July 17 we finally receive three great photos taken when Molly was exactly five weeks old. On September 1 we receive an updated photo. We estimate that Molly must be about 2 1/2 months when it was taken. We have also got information about tests for HIV and Hep. B, and to our great relief both are negative.

We can travel!!

On September 23 we finally get the clear to travel. A mad rush follows to organize tickets, visas etc. The Giving and Receiving ceremony is set for October 11, and that gives us only just enough time to get organized… This is for sure the most exciting and nerve-wrecking time we've experienced so far! We leave for Hanoi on October 7 via Singapore.

The trip to Vietnam

We left for Hanoi on Oct. 7 and arrived there safe and sound (if tired!) on Friday Oct. 8. We were able to arrange a tour to Ha Long Bay for the weekend. Not only was Ha Long Bay a beautiful area - anyone going to Vietnam should take the time to see it, if they can possibly fit it in - but also the bus trip from Hanoi to Ha Long City from where we took a boat out in the bay was great because we got to see the Vietnamese countryside.

Monday 11 October was the day we had been waiting for. We set out (we were three couples in our group) from Hanoi early in the morning, around 7 a.m., for Hoa Binh. The orphanage is part of Hoa Binh Social Protection Center. We arrived there around 9 a.m. and were shown into a waiting room in the administration building. Here we sat for about 15 minutes (at least that's what I think - I had lost all sense of time…) and then the caretakers came in with the three children who were all babies around 5-6 months. They simply said the children's Vietnamese first names out loud, and I went over and took Molly in my arms for the first time. Just like that! No special announcements or anything. I don't think I even looked at the person who came in with Molly - I don't remember. I think all I had eyes for was her. I had thought that I might have cried, but I think I was too overwhelmed or focused on what was happening to cry. It was only at the end of the day, when we finally got back to the hotel in Hanoi that I broke down!

We spent most of the day at the orphanage where they showed us around, we saw where the children had spent the first months of their lives and met their caretakers. Each caretaker looks after four children. They were very friendly, although communication was difficult (language problems!) and they had a great way with the children. We feel privileged to have got the opportunity to see the surroundings in which Molly has spent the first 5 months of her life and met the people who have looked after her.

After seeing the orphanage we went to the local Department of Justice for the official Giving and Receiving ceremony. It went smoothly - everybody was friendly and we happily signed all the necessary documents for the adoption of Molly. She slept throughout the entire ceremony!

The rest of our stay was without incident. Molly took everything in her stride - the change from the quiet and very dull orphanage in the country to the noise of Hanoi and to being with us, and then the change from the 30 degrees and humid climate to cold and dry Denmark. But she loved Hanoi. We took her out every day, and we had a most enjoyable and exiting time in Hanoi - with Molly. She made it possible to get into contact with lots of Vietnamese people who would come up to us, ask us about Molly, if she was a Vietnamese baby, how old she was etc. Most of them spoke only Vietnamese, but with a combination of their and our languages, smiles and sign language, communication was somehow always possible!

We came home to Denmark on schedule on 21 October 1999, after a long flight from Hanoi/Singapore. The flight went well - Molly slept most of the way. She is truly a little angel. She is a very happy child, cries very little (although she has now discovered that it does pay off to cry - someone actually comes to comfort her and pick her up!), eats, sleeps, plays.... and she is by all accounts perfectly healthy.

We are still pinching our arms because it's hard to believe we could be so lucky. Everything on the trip went well, and we came home with the most precious and lovely little girl we could imagine!

Molly is now 5 1/2 months old (November 1999) and can already sit quite well by herself. She now sits on the floor, happily playing and babbling away. She weighs about 5,7 kgs and is 62 cms. She is quite small compared to Danish children, but she is just perfect.

Pictures of Molly:

Orphanage | Greeting & Receiving | In Vietnam | Ha Long Bay | In Vietnam (2) | Arriving Home | Bathtime | Referral Photo's | Recent Photo's

We would love to share even more details of our wonderful adoption experience with anyone who is interested in adoption from Vietnam. We can be contacted at hse@nettest.dk or heidi.senderovitz@gnhome.dk.

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More Pictures of Molly in the FCV Photo Gallery

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