A Dream Comes True

Netherlanders' first trip to America is to meet new daughter

4/22/2009

HAMILTON, NJ - Their first time coming to America, many people visit places like New York City, Washington, DC, or San Francisco. For Dennis and Belinda of the Netherlands, the first visit to the U.S. brought them to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton in New Jersey.

RWJ Hamilton Executive Director of Maternal Child Health Services, Kerry O'Donnell (left) welcomes adoptive parents Belinda and Dennis along with new daughter, Quinty, during a visit to the hospital where Quinty was born on March 2. The couple, who traveled to New Jersey from the Netherlands, adopted Quinty through an international adoption agency in Philadelphia.

It was at this hospital five weeks earlier on March 2, that Dennis and Belinda's daughter, Quinty, was born. After three years of wishing, hoping and waiting, the couple was finally able to witness the exciting climax of their adoption story.

An American Experience
When Dennis and Belinda arrived in Philadelphia on March 30, Quinty was in the care of a foster family. "The birth mother gave Quinty a teddy bear she'd had as a child and it means so much to us," says Belinda.

While completing the adoption process in Philadelphia, Dennis and Belinda decided to take a trip to the hospital where Quinty was born—Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton—where the family was greeted with open arms.

"It is always nice to see a new family brought together and to know we helped this couple's dream come true," says Kerry O'Donnell, executive director of RWJ Hamilton's maternity program.

"The hospitality we were greeted with at the hospital has been tremendous," says Dennis. "We came here thinking it would be a quick in-and-out visit to see where she was born, but they toured us through the maternity unit and the postpartum unit and we were even able to meet some of the nurses who cared for Quinty when she was here."

Where to Begin
After researching their options in the Netherlands, Dennis and Belinda decided to pursue an international adoption. To start the process, the couple was placed on a one-year waiting list with the Netherlands government.

While waiting, Dennis and Belinda began investigating an agency to adopt through. Although they researched agencies in many countries, the U.S. agencies seemed to offer the most transparent process, and the couple settled on an agency in Philadelphia.

"With many countries you know how to get started and how to finish, but you do not know what happens in between. The American agency we worked with was good at giving us a clear idea of how the process was going. We weren't left in the dark," says Dennis. In One Moment Once the agency was approved by the Netherlands government, Dennis and Belinda began the adoption search. Although the wait was long, the couple knew that it would be worthwhile in the end - and it was. On March 6, they received an email from the agency and two little words changed the couple's life forever - "possible match."

"I was just opening my email as I did every day, and there it was. I read the email over and over. We wait and wait for three and a half years and then everything changes - just like that," says Dennis.

Belinda describes the weeks leading up to their much-anticipated trip to the United States as surreal.

"It was unbelievable," she explains. "You're so happy to know there is a daughter waiting for you, but it is hard to believe. When we got the photo, it became more real. And as we planned the trip, it was even more real. Then I was holding her, and it was real - but it still felt unbelievable."

Homeward Bound
Dennis and Belinda have been keeping in touch with their family back home in the Netherlands. "Our families are so excited to meet Quinty. We've been talking every day and Quinty is all they care about," says Dennis.

The new parents are looking forward to starting their new life when they return home, and look forward to getting to know their new daughter and watching her grow.

"I don't think it will be difficult, but everything will change. She will make her own decisions and sometimes she will fall, of course. But we've been there, so we can help," Dennis says.

"We just cannot wait to give her a wonderful life," says Belinda. "She is our princess."