Rick Maurer and his wife Ilene both had successful careers with Fortune 500 companies and loving extended families - but there was something missing from their lives: they desperately wanted children. After the trauma of multiple failures with fertility doctors, Rick and Ilene were forced to accept the knowledge that they would not be able to have children naturally and decided to look into adoption. Their desire to start their family without delay, to have a young baby, and the safeguards not available domestically - led them to consider an adoption from abroad. As a publisher traveling throughout South America Rick knew the sad situations of the many children left abandoned and without loving families.In this touching story Rick describes their first meeting with Sam and later Maria, whose families had been unable to care for them. Unlike many of the thousands of less fortunate babies in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, Sam and Maria each had been placed with a foster family before being approved for adoption and ultimately placed with a family. It was love at first sight for Rick and Ilene, but many obstacles remained including language, culture, as well as uncooperative judges. This saga tells in touching detail the highs and lows of Rick and Ilene's journey to parenthood while also weaving in the fascinating early history of this remote and little known country.