The House of Love is a Catholic orphanage in a small village in the south of Vietnam. From the age of 11 until 16, this was the home of Van Dai. It quickly became clear he was a bright boy. The orphanage’s director, an elder sister, remembers, “When he first came, he was so timid, shy and didn’t talk much. But when I taught him, I realized that he’s a bright child. He’s clever and grasped new concepts quickly.” At school, he earned the highest marks of any children at the orphanage.

Over 60 children have grown to adulthood at the House of Love, only seven have been adopted. Asked if he will miss life at the orphanage, Van Dai says “Yes, a little… because I’ve been living here for so long and know the nuns and kids here so well. I’m going to miss them all.” On learning he had been chosen for adoption, he said, “It isn’t easy to describe my feelings about having a family. It’s a mix of excitement, confusion, worry, but most of all I’m happy and feel lucky to have a family of my own.” Most important, it meant love. “Having a family means I’m loved and supported. I can share my sadness and happiness with them. It means I can thrive and live a normal life.” Van Dai’s adoptive parents Margaret Wasnak and Bill Hong live in the New York suburbs, USA, with their 14-year old daughter Siobhan.They adopted Siobhan from China when she was ten. Most of all, they want Van Dai to be happy, says Margaret. “That he grows up to be a happy person in whatever he chooses to do. I think that’s the interesting part of getting to meet our son, is that we don’t really know what he likes to do, what he’s good at … what he wants to do with his life. That’s the adventure for us.” Bill adds, “We don’t have any preconceived notions about what success in life might be for him. We want to be able to nurture his potential and help him be the best that he can.”

Margaret and Bill, an older couple, wanted to adopt an older child. “We just felt as an older couple, we would be able to handle an older child and help them progress. So we kind of skipped over the baby section,” says Margaret says [referring to Holt’s photo listing of children waiting to be adopted] and went right to the two older group categories.”

They were attracted to Siobhan’s biography and photograph. “We knew she was for us when we read that she was ‘bossy’,” Margaret remembers. “New Yorkers are born arguing.” They were also moved by the length of time older children must wait for adoption. “There seemed to be a real need,” Margaret says. “The kids wait a really long time. Siobhan waited six years to get adopted.”

Search Holt’s Photo Listing.
Read here the full story of how Margaret and Bill adopted not only Van Dai from Vietnam, but also Siobhan from China.

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