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Couple to adopt four Taiwanese children

Mark and Ann Mielke of Harlan Twp. with their adopted daughter, Taylor, will soon adopt four girls from Taiwan. Contributed photo by Linda Scott

Linda Scott Mark and Ann Mielke of Harlan Twp. with their adopted daughter, Taylor, will soon adopt four girls from Taiwan. Contributed photo by Linda Scott

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By Linda Scott, Contributing writer 11:09 AM Friday, October 23, 2009

Mark and Ann Mielke will soon be new parents. They are expecting four daughters, ages 5, 3, 2 and 8 months.

The Harlan Twp. couple will travel to Taiwan to meet for the first time the young siblings they are adopting. Bringing home these four little sisters, who live in separate foster facilities, will be the culmination of a 2½-year adoption process for the Mielkes.

While the Mielkes are joyfully looking forward to the addition of four children to the family, they know it will be a traumatic experience for the girls.

“There is a huge culture change and there will be a lot of special care. We expect a lot of sleep issues with these girls because their world will be turned upside down,” Mielke said.

Their two biological daughters, Amanda and Laura, both graduates of Little Miami High School, and their 4-year-old daughter, Taylor, adopted from China in 2007, are helping the couple prepare to more than double the size of the family.

And it’s not by chance that all the children the Mielkes have raised or adopted are female.

“Boys, we’ve observed, require a lot of physical energy, usually. Girls, usually, require more emotional energy. Because we are not spring chickens, Mark and I would be able to expend a lot more emotional energy than physical energy,” Ann said.

The Mielkes have hired a Mandarin speaking au pair to help the stay-at-home mother, who is taking lessons in the Chinese dialect. Both Mark and Ann have “uncluttered” their home,” cutting the inventory by about half” and getting rid of everything that is not needed in order to have additional space.

Ann has been hitting the garage sales to purchase clothing and other items the girls will need. An enormous table that seats eight also was purchased.

The Mielkes have had a lot of help in preparing for the girls. In addition to the International Adoption Center at Children’s Medical Center Hospital at Cincinnati, friends and neighbors have been assisting with the preparations.

Taylor has given her soon-to-be siblings their English names. Big sister Hsin-Yi will be Jade, little sister Hsin-Tzu will be Madison, little sister Yu-Ping will be Emma and baby sister Pei-Chi will be Mia.

“When people say to us that those little girls are so lucky to have us adopting them, we tell them the blessing is ours. We are lucky to have them,” Ann said.

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