An Unexpected Journey To Adoption

Ten years ago, Beth accompanied a friend to China where the friend was to pick up a baby she had adopted. Two days into the trip, the woman decided she was unable to follow through with the adoption. Beth, who did not have any children, nor had given any thought to adoption herself, could not bear to leave the baby. She and her husband adopted the baby – who is now their ten year old daughter Lily. Soon after, Beth wrote "Forever Lily," a memoir which shares the story of the unexpected adoption. The book is now in its 5th printing run through Touchstone/Simon and Shuster and is currently being adapted into a screenplay. Beth went back to China 5 years ago and adopted her second daughter, Jaden. Beth and her husband, Randy – a lobbyist in DC – founded Golden Phoenix Foundation, whose mission is to end child abandonment and improve living conditions for orphaned children worldwide. Beth is incredibly passionate about the mission – a story she wrote on adoption appeared in this weekend's LA TIMES and in the New York Times last year. Most recently, Beth created a fragrance, also called Forever Lily, which was inspired by the book – it will launch this month. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the foundation. Beth is currently establishing a vocational training set-aside for girls coming out of orphanages who could actually work on the ForeverLily products. The foundation would work with the manufacturer as well as The Grace Children's Foundation to set this up. The packaging for the first production of ForeverLily run was hand-made in China and is absolutely stunning.