2-year adoption process put on hold for Georgia family amid coronavirus outbreak

MCDONOUGH, Ga. -- A Georgia family was ready to pick up their adopted daughter in China, but their plans were put on hold because of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

Noah and Ivy Cleveland said they have spent the past two years in an unpredictable adoption process, but finally were able to book plane tickets and hotel rooms to meet their new daughter, 3-year-old Ruby Faith.

But less than two weeks before the flight was scheduled to leave, their adoption agency said they would have to delay the meeting because of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The news came days before the United States announced restrictions on passengers from China and several airlines cancelled flights to and from China.

"This is the first time in my life that I truly wept to the point being sick in my body," Ivy Cleveland said. "I just laid over her bed, over her crib that I had prepared for her, and looked up at the pictures on the wall and her clothes in her closet, and just understanding that this is not happening right now."

The U.S. State Department said adoption cases are still being processed, but officials advised adoptive parents not to travel to China in the next few months.

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Noah Cleveland said the recent change in plans was not only costly, it also challenged the family's faith.

"I know by my story and my life that there's many things I wouldn't have signed up to go through, but in the end the way God works out, I would never trade it," Noah Cleveland said. "I know this is just a part of our story, it's part of Ruby's story, and how incredible will it be to be able to tell her look what we did to fight for you."

The Clevelands said their new daughter was abandoned in a hospital bathroom when she was 6 months old and was diagnosed with hydrocephalus--a swelling of the brain that can cause headaches, impaired vision, loss of coordination and incontinence.

It is unclear when the family will be able to travel to China to meet Ruby Faith and bring her to her new home to Georgia.