Anne Ryder/Eyewitness News
Maastricht, The Netherlands, Nov. 3 - Four thousand miles separate Holland and Indiana with differences in culture and language. But there's a well worn path connecting the two, a connection in black and white of parent and child of pure gold.
"Such a sweet baby and she looks cute and it's nothing more than sheer joy what she brought to us." Joy that's about to be multiplied for Dick and Vivian, who live in southern Holland near the border of Belgium with Isabelle, whom they adopted from Indianapolis.
Their Indiana adoption attorney has phoned with news of another birthmother interested in them, a potential sibling for Isabel.
Vivian says that birthmother "liked the way we described how we were raising Isabel, so I think yeah, she was very positive."
But until she gives birth and signs her consent to adopt, anything can happen.
A continent away, Indianapolis adoption attorney Steve Kirsh is the matchmaker. He flies to meet birthmothers and presents them pictures and letters of families, American and European, wanting to adopt.
Over the past 20 years he has arranged nearly 120 adoptions of Indiana born children to the Netherlands, all of them African-American or bi-racial.
Every summer there's a reunion of the Indiana-born kids with an American theme.
Last month many of the families gathered, at the request of Eyewitness News, near Amsterdam.
The Indiana born kids who've grown up there have dual citizenship. They're Dutch citizens and they're still American citizens. Their parents try to get them together at least once or twice a year to give them a sense of their American culture as well.
But what's behind the exodus from America, from Indiana?
"I'm not seeking out Dutch families because I particularly want to represent Dutch families. I'm trying to find homes for babies that don't exist in this country," says Kirsh.
It's an issue that's open to debate. More on that, later.
But the birthmother has the final say where her offspring goes and why. Kirsh says he's "not saying there's no racism in Holland. I'm just saying a lot of the tension doesn't exist."
Take the Zwanikkan family, where black and white co-exist peacefully. Stephan and Christina Zwanikkan say they don't have any reservations about adopting children of color.
Stephen and Christina didn't want to wait five years to adopt through the Dutch system, so they adopted Lindsay from Evansville, then Jodi from Michigan City.
Stephan believes, "It's easier to explain to our children where they're from, actually. If you adopt an orphan you know nothing about them."
Eric was their biological surprise. They're ready for one more adopted Hoosier. "We would like the circle to complete ... one more time."
And time may be short. Next year the US is expected to ratify and enforce a Hague Treaty on intercountry adoption that will tighten restrictions on adoptions from America.
Kirsh says, "The families in Holland know that they might not be able to adopt American babies very much longer."
That's why Dick and Vivian are smiling. Vivian tells Isabelle, "We have a sis for you." Dick and Vivian have made a birthmother match in Gary, Indiana. And they're not alone in their joy.
Lucas and Saskia, dear friends who are childless, have also made a birthmother match in Evansville. Both mothers are due the same week.
If all goes as planned, the couples will leave together, trading windmills for cornfields on a journey they will never forget.
These adoptions cost about $30,000, $10,000 of that is for travel.
The birthmothers, under Indiana law, get medical expenses paid and up to $3,000 in living expenses paid.
The wait for a baby is generally less than six months for these couples once their home study is complete.
Not-for-profit adoption agencies don't like this trend. They say there are waiting lists and loving homes for these babies in Indiana.
