[snewsie]

This may seem like an irrelavant question, but I wondered... If you don't travel to get your child for 4-6 months in Guatemala, doesn't the baby respond to it's birth name? What if you have a different wish for the babies forever name?
Thanks,
Snewsie

[gkasche]

I can tell you of my experience. Our first daughter came from India at age 19 months old. Her birth name was Kalashree and that is what she was called until that point. We had chosen the Indian name Sejona for her and started to call her that from the first moment with her. She easily accepted her new name and within a day responded to it as if that had always been her name. We kept Kalashree as her middle name. Our second daughter was called by her birth name for the first 18 months while in India. I called her Nanditha (her birth name) while in India...but as soon as we entered the plane for the trip home started to refer to her as Anjali...the name we chose. By the time the plane landed in Pittsburgh...she was Anjali and had no problem with her new name. We kept Nanditha as her middle name. Our third daughter is still in India. She will soon be 20 months old. Same will be with her...new first name and original birth name as the middle. I have never had a problem with my girls responding to a new name. I think you will be fine to change your baby's name if you want to. I wouldn't worry about this one bit. Karen