Jencie and Juliann Tomasek

Now 12, Jencie was 5 when her parents adopted Juliann, an experience she calls `cool` though also a learning experience in sharing.

`I think it was a good experience because I got to make al lifelong friend from that,` she says.

She remembers very little from the trip to China, in 2008.

I remember some things, not all the sights or the food,` she says. `But I remember certain things, like where we stayed, the hotels, the different people we got to meet and be around.`

Juliann, 8, says she likes having an older sister.

`I'm glad to have an older sister to look up. And I don't remember anything from China,` she says.

Juliann is curious about China, `things they wear, their traditions, and how they act, how they learn.

Sometimes, kids ask questions and make assumptions, Jencie says.

`Do I know certain people or have I been to certain places like the great Wall of China,` she says. `Some of them I can answer and some of them I can't because even though I'm Chinese I haven't done everything that, like, Chinese people do. They think since we're Chinese, we know all of the things about China, like it's our life.`

Juliann wishes some kids would be more sensitive about when they decide to ask questions.

`I just feel like they should look it up or talk to me privately because I don't want everyone to hear,` Juliann says. `But I feel a little more open whenever I tell them.`

More Stories

Jencie and Juliann's interview

Mar 30, 2019

Jencie and Juliann's transcript

Mar 30, 2019

Mary Ann and Anthony Tomasek

Adoptive parents

Feb 12, 2019

Mary Ann and Anthony live in Temple, Texas, near Ft. Hood, where they spend many hours watching their daughters, Jencie and Juliann, at dance rehearsals and performances.

They knew very little about China when they embarked on their adoption journey. They talked with friends who were in the process of adopting from China. The couples have remained friends.

Mary Ann and Anthony waited less than a year for Jencie. By the time they filed paperwork to adopt Juliann the wait had stretched to almost three years. nthony said they felt, `a little bit of apprehension and misunderstanding of why it was taking so much longer the second time versus the first time.`

How did they cope?

`We just, through our support group, kept the pace we were going and just buckled down and thought it's meant for a time and this is our time to wait,` he says.

Jencie's adoption required a two-week stay in China. They were in China for three weeks for Juliann's adoption. Having once stayed at Guangzhou's White Swan Hotel, the longtime `headquarters` for international families adopting in China, they knew their way around. The girls' grandparents accompanied them on both trips.

`We did shopping. We went to different markets. We were just able to see some of the day to day life as well as seeing some of the sites around the area,` says Mary Ann.

`We knew exactly what to expect as far as surroundings,` Anthony adds. `Some had changes over the years, yes, but we still found places to go and things to do. It was sort of like a home because we knew what to expect.

Mary Ann and Anthony's interview

Mar 30, 2019

Mary Ann and Anthony's transcript

Mar 30, 2019