A Promise Fulfilled

Over thirty years ago, my pain and anguish at not being able to conceive a child led my husband and me down a path that included unsuccessful fertility treatments and obstacles in the quest to adopt a child. Through this series of trying events, my husband and I were eventually blessed when we became parents to Jade, a Korean girl. Our trials and tribulations had only begun, however, when we learned of Jade’s birth defect and set out to repair the problem and give her as normal of a life as we could. "A Promise Fulfilled" is the amazing recount of our family’s story.
In 1979, I met and married, Ted, my knight in shining armor. Six months later, I was hospitalized with severe abdominal distress. Through a laparoscopic abdominal procedure, the doctors uncovered my scarred cervix. There was the strong possibility I would never be able to conceive a child.

For six years, Ted and I went through hell as we desperately tried to have a child. We experimented with countless methods to conceive and I took heavy doses of fertility drugs. After suffering a tubal pregnancy that nearly killed me, I came to terms with the fact that I wasn’t able to conceive.

After attempting to adopt a premature baby boy and having him ripped from our arms when his birth mother decided to stop the adoption, my faith was put to the test. Once again, my hopes at motherhood were dashed. I was devastated beyond belief, and the event nearly destroyed me. Struggling with my faith, I wasn’t sure how I would live life without a child.

Through a miraculous turn of events, we learned of Helping Children of Various Nations (HCVN), an agency that dealt with foreign adoptions. They worked with Korea and India placing infants to adolescents in American homes. I was skeptical, but determined to overcome my fears. With trepidation, we began the foreign adoption procedure. After months of scrutiny and every aspect of our lives placed under a microscope, our adoption request was approved by the Korean agency. A beautiful, one-month old baby girl was ready for adoption.

Jade Sung was born on September 1st, 1987 in a province in Seoul Korea called Kyonggi-Do. The birth mother relinquished her at 18 days old. Our miracle baby was born with a malformed left ear that was completely closed. There was the possibility she could be deaf. However, that did not matter to us. She was the baby we prayed for. I gazed into my daughter’s eyes and made this promise to her: “My angel, I will find a way to get your ear fixed; this is my solemn vow to you.”

From the time I uttered these words, we set upon a quest to fulfill our promise to Jade so that she might have a more normal life. Over the years, we coped with Jade’s health problems, some of which caused her to suffer with Epileptic Febrile Seizures. There were obstacles and challenges, but as a family we found the faith and inner strength to cope with her non-American heritage, adoption, severe facial disfigurement and taunting from her peers.
"A Promise Fulfilled" will illustrate to readers that dreams can come true, but in the process, fulfillment often means making difficult decisions. With help from unexpected places, Jade’s dream becomes reality.

Readers will come along on that journey as an exhaustive search leads to many obstacles, with doors slammed in our faces time-after-time, until the Shriners Hospital in Galveston, Texas emerged as our beacon of hope. Thanks to the Shriners love, dedication and concern for the well-being of children, Jade, and our family, were given our dream.

A tale of inner strength, readers will be inspired by Jade’s courage, as well as our love and support as she endures the intense pain to endure multiple surgeries for reconstruction on her ear. Thanks to a team of dedicated experts, Jade, and we, are blessed with a life we could only dream about.