Americans Lauren and Harrison Smith met in China as students, and discussed their desire to adopt from the country early on in their relationship. As soon as they reached the minimum age of 30, the couple put together their applications and submitted for inspections of their home in Kunming, the capital of south-west China’s Yunnan province, where they lived with their two-year-old daughter.
“In September 2019, we saw our son’s picture for the first time and were able to submit a letter of intent to adopt him,” Lauren told the Guardian.
The boy, who the couple named Benaiah, had been given up by his parents at the age of 15 months, after suffering a head injury. Lauren assumed the parents had loved him in that first year of life but didn’t have the capacity to care for him. The couple received all approvals except permission to travel and collect Benaiah. But before the Smiths were able to continue with the adoption process,…