WHFC Family Featured in Times Square

The photo below, submitted by one of our families, was accepted to be displayed as the Kodak Picture of the Day for July 23, 2006. The picture appeared every few minutes on the Kodak Times Square Gallery billboard in New York City and was also be featured on the kodak.com* website. Read more about this family's inspiring story below in the letter written by adoptive father, Rob.

Kodak's Picture of the Day for July 23
(Click on the photo to see a larger version)

"Not sure if I mentioned it in my submission, but I'm a professional (just the past 3 years) children's photographer**. Right as my wife and I decided to adopt a baby, the urge to follow my passion (career wise) took hold. I figured I had about 18 months before fatherhood, and if there was a time to make a MAJOR career switch it was BEFORE we adopted our daughter. Long story short, I couldn't be happier with my decision... it's been great.

The only major hiccup came on our trip to China to bring our daughter home.... I agreed to photograph a wedding for one of my wife's colleagues about a year before we knew when we would be traveling to China. As luck would have it, the wedding overlapped with the first 1/4 of the trip...the attached photo (to left) was taken while I was on an 8 hour layover in Beijing...just as my wife was meeting our daughter for the first time. I was 7,700 miles from home, less than 100 miles from my meeting my daughter, listening to U2 and taking pictures of someone else's plane at "my" gate...Surreal doesn't come close to describing it.

After a long wait, I boarded my plane and was on my way to meeting my Daughter. By the time I got to the hotel, my wife Robin had Sam all sorts of shined up...smelling like J&J baby oil and such. I checked in, went up to our room and met my daughter for the first time. At 14 months, she weighed only 14 lbs. Being a new parent didn't realize that this was VERY light for a child her age...just as well. Adoption is an amazing thing...one second you're "childless" and the next you're given complete responsibility for another life...for the rest of your life. I couldn't help but think that someday this tiny girl laying on my chest would probably be caring for me just as I was caring for her....

Update....In the past year Sam has gained about 12 lbs, learned to walk, learned how to say "NO" about 50 different ways and become the quintessential "American" 2 year old.

Every now and then people comment how lucky our daughter is to have been adopted by my wife and I...and every time it hits me like a ton of bricks that we're the lucky ones by far, to have her in our lives.

Thanks again for selecting my photograph to appear in Times Square. About 7,000 babies (95% girls) are adopted from China by American families each year....many tens of thousands aren't...hopefully a few couples that might be on the fence about adopting from China will decide to take the wonderful plunge after seeing the photograph."

* To see the Fitch's picture, select the "Search Past Pictures" link on the left side of the page, and choose July 23, 2006 from the drop down boxes.

** Rob Fitch's work can be viewed at www.robfitch.com.

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