SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION?
by Tony, an adoptive Dad in Queensland, Australia
 
At first glance, this photo could be any one of our members and friends around Australia, but there is a story to tell.The guapo (handsome) boy on the right is Jeffrey Dan – our son who has been with us for 14 months. The other guapo boy (on the left) is Jack, with his mum Cathy.

Like many others, once you get “that call”, Rhondda and I wanted to connect with any other “family” who also had children from our homes.  For those who have adopted from places like Taiwan or Korea, that’s an easy task as they are primarily one-home programs; however for those from the Philippines our kids may have been cared for at any one of over 50 homes across the archipelago – so finding a connection is not so easy and rarely close to home.

Jeffrey was from a beautiful home called Living Stones Orphanage in Davao, the main city of the southernmost province – Mindanao. We learned that there was a family in Adelaide and another in Melbourne with kids from LSO and one of Jeff’s little buddies has recently arrived just over the border in NSW.  We were able to connect with the Adelaide family during the year and although their kids were much older than Jeff – it was great to chat and explore our special bond.

Early in December Rhondda, Hannah, Jeff and I went to Melbourne and took the opportunity to visit the other LSO connection -- Mark and Cathy and their children, Jack (pictured) and Anna – also born in the Philippines.  I had met them a while ago during a business trip, but this was the first time we had come together as families.

Jeff (2) and Jack (7) had not met as Jack had moved to Australia long before Jeff was born but the four kids played together whilst the parents compared notes which was especially interesting as Jack's family had been back to Davao earlier this year.

As always happens in Melbourne, the conversation drifted to football at one point and I confessed to being Melbourne born and a Melbourne supporter. This lead to inevitable question of where from, etc., and after whittling down to the fact that Cathy and I came from the same suburb and then the same street, it turned out we had lived next door to each 40 years ago.  Cathy is of course a few years younger than me but as little tackers, for three years we lived side by side!  Now after both living in other cities we found ourselves sitting around a coffee table with our respective spouses not only sharing the special bond of intercountry adoption but also blessed with boys from the same tiny orphanage – thousands of kilometres away.