Find My Family: Andrew
May 30, 2014
Family Found
Uudate: My family has found me! Andrew is a very polite 9 year old who has been living in a wonderful foster home for the past year. He is deaf. He communicates with his peers and house nannies by pointing to objects and expressing his needs. He has begun learning sign language 3 times a …Read More
During the process
May 29, 2014
cl/cp, Nicole
During the adoption process, there are few things more fierce than the determination of an adoptive mama (or baba) to get to her baby. She has a strange, indescribable love for her child that carries such intensity, it’s often overwhelming. The “my-claws-will-come-out-if-you-get-in-my-way” mama bear protective instincts kind-of-love are ferocious and very real. Anything that stands …Read More
Never Say Never Again
May 29, 2014
dwarfism, heart defect, large families
My husband, Joe, and I never set out to be parents of this many kids. If there can be such a thing as accidental adoptions, we have experienced them. Now though, our adoptions are no longer accidental. This is the way we have chosen to live. The path that led us to this decision, at …Read More
waiting child highlight: Gabriel (urgent medical need)
May 28, 2014
Family Found
Look at this handsome boy! Gabriel is an obedient, soft-spoken ten year old boy. He loves to play with other children, but due to his complex heart condition, he has a hard time keeping up. So often he just watches the others play games while he plays with blocks and puzzles. Gabriel has normal motor …Read More
A Birth Story
May 27, 2014
Carrie, journey to adoption
Motherhood always starts with a birth story. Because no matter if you pull your baby out of a birthing pool with your own two hands, receive her from the arms of a social worker outside the hospital nursery, or pull him – screaming – from the arms of the orphanage worker who brought him halfway …Read More
Land of the free
May 26, 2014
Kelly
Memorial Day. Pools everywhere open for the season. Grills are fired up. Sparkles are sparkling. That’s what it’s always been—a day off and a homecoming party for our good friend summer. I wouldn’t say I grew up without a patriotic heart; I knew all the words to the national anthem and belt out the alto …Read More
adopting a child with congenital heart disease
May 25, 2014
advanced heart failure, Andrea O., ASD, complex heart defect, double outlet right ventricle, end stage cardiac disease, Family Stories, heart defect, Heart System, single ventricle heart disease, Tetralogy of Fallot, TGA, VSD
Four years ago, I could not describe the structure or mechanism of the human heart. Now, that magical and miraculous pump that provides the essence of life is something I think about every day. What an amazing odyssey it has been! This post is not enough to do justice to the complexity of the topic …Read More
Waiting child highlight: Tisha Urgent Medical Need
May 24, 2014
Family Found
UPDATE: My Family has found me! Sweet Tisha is a two year old precious girl designated to Lifeline Children’s Services. She is diagnosed with Beta Thalassemia Major and is unfortunately not receiving optimal care for this special need. She has developmental delays, which are not surprising for her at this time. Her file also mentions …Read More
what we're reading links: 5.23.2014
May 23, 2014
Stefanie, What We're Reading
These past two weeks have been chock-full of news stories relevant to the China special needs adoption community! Here are some of our favorite articles and blog posts about parenting an adopted and/or special needs child. As always, if you’ve read or written something you think would be a good addition to a future What …Read More
Stepping Up to Adoption/Orphan Ministry
May 23, 2014
orphan ministry, Rebecca
Amidst piling documents into our first dossier, we sensed that our adoption journey was to be a wider stretching. Beyond becoming mommy and daddy to three beloved gifts from China, God nudged us further. Our hearts enlarged for more kids than those to be in our family. We stood in our daughter’s social welfare institute …Read More
Joy
May 21, 2014
adopting as a single mom, Desiree, Down syndrome, working mom
Overwhelmingly, the number one word used to describe my son and the majority of those rocking an extra chromosome like him is…HAPPY. This is seriously not a bad reputation to have! In fact, there is a great YouTube video going around with groups of people with Down syndrome gleefully shaking what God gave them to …Read More
Find My Family: Grace on the Shared List
May 20, 2014
Children Who Wait, girls, special focus, thalassemia
Grace was born September of 2008 and is currently on the shared list. She was found at a few months of age and admitted to the orphanage. Upon admission she was diagnosed with β Mediterranean anemia (beta thalassemia major), macrocephaly, and normal physical and intelligence development. She was placed with a foster family in 2010. …Read More
When the voiceless break into song (from Isaiah 35)
May 19, 2014
a father's perspective, BAHA, hearing loss, microtia, Mike, Sensory System
As a dad of six, I know that I am not objective in assessing my own kids. Often, I see them in too favorable of a light, and I find myself measuring our family room mantle to see if it will hold six Nobel Prizes, six Olympic medals, and six Academy Awards at the same …Read More
You’re not in Kansas anymore
May 17, 2014
adopting SN: the process, adoption realities, birthmark, Chinese Culture, hemangioma, Kayla
I’ve told the editors of this blog that I am running out of things to write about regarding the special need that Jubilee (that’s my daughter) has. It simply doesn’t matter to us any more that she has a skin deformity on her torso. It will matter to her one day, no doubt, but we …Read More
Exposed to Hope: Girls with Vision Impairment
May 16, 2014
Family Stories, girls, Sensory System, vision issues
In 2005 we submitted our application for a Non Special Need (NSN) adoption from China but five years later we were still waiting. Afraid that our time would never come, we started discussing Special Needs (SN) adoption. We got all the necessary papers and permissions but struggled trying to figure out what kind of special …Read More
A Silent Event… A Near Drowning
May 15, 2014
Jean
And it was awful… it still haunts me… I don’t think I will EVER forget about it… the image is forever ingrained in my mind… In all of our 30 years of parenting it has happened just once. AND once is ENOUGH… I am not going into specifics. It’s private and it will always be …Read More
Find My Family: Colleen
May 14, 2014
Family Found
Adorable Colleen is 8.5 years old and is diagnosed with retarded growth; deformity of spine. The Little People of America believe that she has a form of dwarfism. Unfortunately for her, she resides in an orphanage that is not very cooperative when it comes to updates so she needs a family who will love her …Read More
Find My Family: Grace with WACAP
May 13, 2014
Family Found
Update: My family has found me! This sweet little face belongs to Grace. Although her nannies describe her as timid and shy, she gets along well with others and is said to be energetic. She is six years old. She loves to listen to music, read books, and play with toys,. Dolls happen to be …Read More
Find My Family: Zack
May 12, 2014
Family Found
Update: My Family has found me! Zack is a very charismatic and outgoing boy who is usually very happy. He is a clear favorite of the nannies at his institute. He has a big personality and had the nannies laughing during one of his visits with us. He is described as being very smart by …Read More
I know that she was loved
May 11, 2014
adoption realities, Hannah, orphanage realities
Over the past ten months I have watched baby after baby arrive at the orphanage we work in. In my first four years of orphan care work in China we were working with a foster home – a place of healing and hope, where orphans with medical needs that the orphanage could not handle arrived …Read More
Bamboo Project Update: Five Boys
May 9, 2014
adoption situations, Desiree, Down syndrome
When I started down the Adoption Road I repeatedly refused to mark ‘preferred gender’ box on all the paperwork. I simply wasn’t going to make that decision: God would determine the gender of my child during a natural pregnancy, He could certainly do the same during a paper pregnancy. I didn’t have a real preference, …Read More
what we're reading: 5.8.2014
May 8, 2014
Stefanie, TongguMomma, What We're Reading
From the last few weeks, some good stuff we’ve read that relates to adoption and/or parenting a special needs child. As always, if you’ve read or written something you think would be a good addition to a future What We’re Reading post, we’d love to hear about it… To share a blog post or news …Read More
Surviving Gotcha Day
May 7, 2014
Amy, esophageal stenosis, scoliosis, Tetralogy of Fallot, tracheo-malacia, tracheoesophagel fistula, VACTERL
A year ago today we had spent only one day with our daughter. After arriving in China, we spent 3 days in Beijing, visited the place she called Home for almost a year and met the women she called “mama”. Then we traveled to XinJiang, her province, tried to sleep on Gotcha Day Eve, and …Read More
The Best Mama
May 5, 2014
heart defect, older child adoption, Tara
I’ll never forget the first time it happened. She threw her arms around me and exclaimed, “I love you, Mama! You’re the best mama I’ve ever had!!!” And every time it’s happened since then is carved on my heart as well. Every. Single. Time. The day I met my sweet Cora…just over a year-and-a-half ago…was …Read More
Happy To Fail
May 3, 2014
cl/cp, Jennifer
This past week, Grace was evaluated in speech therapy. She took a standardized speech assessment test and she failed it. And we rejoiced! High fives all around from her speech therapist and myself! Up high, down low and even some that were too slow but managed to hit the hand anyway! Because up until this …Read More
I had a plan
May 1, 2014
hypospadias, Kam
I have a personal problem. You know, one of those personality deficiencies that are just part of your makeup, part of who you are? This particular problem, though I’d still contest is a strength for the average Joe, pops up during the most inopportune times and throws me for a loop. I’m a planner. I …Read More