Margaret Tolan is a busy but happy mom with her three daughters-Hannah, 12, Julia, nine and Celia, four-all adopted from China.

Her day starts at 6:15 in the morning, when she gets up and prepares breakfast for the family.

At 7:30 a.m., the family leaves the house with breakfast in hand and Tolan drives the kids to school, dropping them off one by one.

By 9:00 a.m., she's in her office, where she works as an attorney.

At 6:00 in the evening, Tolan leaves her office and meets her children. The two elder children have their after-school dancing classes and they either have dinner with Tolan's parents or head home together.

"So my family works," Tolan, a single mom living in New York City, told Beijing Review proudly.

Americans seeking adoption have a long-standing love affair with China. In 2006, nearly 6,500 Chinese children found parents in the United States, according to CNN.

Twelve years ago, when Tolan turned 35, she was single and wanted very much to be a parent. On inquiry she learned that China was "incredibly inclusive and open to singles thinking of adopting a child."

"I did not feel the need to create a life when I saw there were many children needing parents," Tolan said, adding, she was both financially and emotionally capable of being a parent. She has been an attorney in New York City for the past 23 years.

Her first adoption of a Chinese child back in 1995 was successful after she went through what she called "people-oriented" processes. Those processes, as Tolan explained, usually included finding an agency which will send a social worker to the adoption applicant's home to interview them, and having the applicant provide medical and financial statements and other information which all helps to determine whether the applicant will make a good parent.

Well-adjusted children

When Tolan's first adoptive daughter Hannah came home, she was only a month old. Now 12, Hannah is an energetic child. She takes music and dancing class every day after school, learning ballet, jazz and pop.

Hannah looks happy with her mom and her two younger sisters. She is aware that she was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province and she never asks why she doesn't have a father. "I have many friends whose parents are also single moms," Hannah said. Having a single parent is clearly not a big deal for her.

So is Julia, a quiet Chinese girl with big pretty eyes. Julia was born in Gaoming, Guangdong Province. "I'm happy that I have my mom," Julia said.