For most parents in the United States, their first encounter with their child occurs at birth in an American hospital setting. For Jonathon and Mari, however, that first precious moment with their lively baby boy came at a Tokyo hotel when he was 11 days old.
Mari, a Japanese citizen living in Chicago with her American husband, related with tears in her eyes how she felt when they first met their son.
"We had knots in our stomachs. We were so nervous and we wondered to ourselves, 'What are we doing?' The adoption agency staff said they were downstairs and coming up. And when the elevator door opened, we just cried and cried."