The Curtis family is counting down to February.

That’s when they’ll welcome Samuel Todd Tuchao, a 1-year-old adoptee from China, after months of paperwork and waiting.

Sam, will be the second child the Curtis family has adopted from China. They also have a 3-year-old, Lily Elizabeth Xiumin, in addition to their two biological children, Jackson and Riley.

Their mother, Meredith Curtis, said their choice to adopt was a gradual decision.

“There wasn’t a time when we said ‘We’re going to adopt,’” she said. She and her husband, John, looked into international adoption in several countries before deciding on China.

“The more we got into it, we realized that China was a good fit,” she said.

After adopting Lily, they decided to adopt again from China so that she would have someone in their family who shared her cultural heritage. They decided on a boy because few people adopt boys.

“Most people who adopt are looking for a healthy infant, usually a girl,” Curtis said.

Both of the Curtis’ adopted children are identified as “special needs” in China, meaning they have some kind of birth defect. Children can be labeled with a birth defect for minor reasons, like a birthmark, or for more advanced medical problems, like a heart defect.

Lily was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate, which was fixed through surgery. She now attends speech therapy. “She’s a regular kid.”

Sam was born with a congenital heart defect. Curtis said she doesn’t know how severe it is yet.

The adoption process doesn’t come without challenges. It’s expensive. The estimated costs run between $12,000 and $15,000 per child, according to the Lifeline Children’s Services, the agency the Curtis family used.

“We didn’t start out with the money,” Curtis said. “When you so something you’re called to do, it works out.” Lakewood Baptist, the church the Curtis family attends, is holding a chili cook-off fundraiser at the end of the month to help the family raise money for Sam’s adoption.

At Lifeline, families go through a series of interviews with a social worker to determine if they are suitable adoptive parents. Different countries have different age requirements -- for Chinese adoption, prospective parents must be at least 30, but not older than 50 to adopt a healthy child and not older than 55 to adopt a child with medical special needs.

The adoption process also takes time. Adopting a “special needs” child from China can take 12 to 15 months; for a healthy child, the process can take four to six years.

Curtis said they started the paperwork for adopting Sam in December 2010, but they won’t travel to China to meet him for the first time until February 2012.

Curtis said they get pictures and updates from Sam’s orphanage about his health and activities. They know his height and weight, that he’s a quiet child and that he likes looking in the mirror.

“You feel like you know your child, but on paper,” she said. “But you don’t really know them.”

The adopted children also have to adjust to a new environment. When the Curtis family adopted Lily, she had never left the orphanage. She was terrified of animals and would act out in the grocery store.

“They’re scared to death, because they’ve never seen a Caucasian person before, they’ve never seen a man, and you’re taking them away from everything they know,” Curtis said. “They usually bond to one parent first, then slowly get to know the other one.”

Curtis’ biological children, Jackson and Riley, love Lily, she said. “They love having a little sister. It’s opened their eyes to see how blessed we are as a nation and how blessed we are as a family.”

Now a rambunctious three-year-old, Curtis said Lily knows she’s adopted. “She knows she came over on a plane and that she came from China,” Curtis said. Both Lily and Sam also kept their Chinese names, to connect them to their cultural heritage.

She urged others to help out orphans, even if they can’t adopt. Orphan Sunday, an initiative of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, encourages people to pray for orphans, support foster and adoptive parents, and offer monetary support to adoptive organizations.

Both of Curtis’ biological children sponsor orphans, she said.

For couples thinking about adoption, Curtis encouraged them to do research and get information about the process.

“It’s not something anybody who felt called to do couldn’t do,” she said.

Sara Pauff, 706-320-4469