Imagine a precious girl, living in an orphanage in China for almost her whole life, watching child after child be chosen by a family. She waits so patiently – hoping that one day the nannies will come tell her that it’s finally her time to leave the cement walls she has called her home so many years. Knowing that she will “age out” at on her 14th birthday in just a few months, and be sent out to a world unknown is too much to bear.
And then one day she gets word that she has been chosen! She has a family coming for her! Can you even imagine the emotions and thoughts that are going through this sweet girl’s head?
Families that choose an aging out child are families that are literally racing to beat the clock, which adds a whole new layer of stress to an already stressful process. In addition, fees and payments are due much closer together because of the expedited process to finish before the child’s approaching 14th birthday – the day they will no longer be eligible for adoption.
Today we are spotlighting a family that is the midst of doing just that.
Melanie and Chad are racing to their precious girl Katie Anne and they need your help. She will not have a chance at a forever family after she turns 14 in February.
Melanie and Chad just started the process in October of this year. And due to the Chinese New Year closure, they need to be in country next month!
Here is a bit of their story from Melanie….
This is our second trip to China and third adoption. Our boys came home from China last year, at the ages of 10.5 and almost 7. Our older son, Pierce, was born with spina bifida with tethered cord and clubbed feet. Lincoln has been diagnosed with imperforate anus and has had several surgeries since coming home. He spent 1 out of every 6 days in the hospital during his first year home. Both boys are thriving now and it seems like they’ve been here forever. We also have two biological girls – Greta is 7 and Willow is almost 6.
We are still paying for the last adoption and had not planned to return to China anytime soon. I saw our daughter’s picture and information pop up on advocacy posts several times throughout the summer. I prayed for her and she was always on my mind. I knew we could not afford this adoption, especially because the time crunch left little time for fundraising. However, I couldn’t bear the thought that this beautiful girl, who is clearly nowhere near her stated age, was about to lose her chance at a family and could even be on the streets in a few short years.
My husband agreed and we started the race to get our girl. Chad is in law enforcement and has taken on a college teaching job at night to help pay for the adoption. After working ten hour days, he heads to the college and teaches four nights a week.
Melanie’s favorite scripture is “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Jesus Christ.“ – Philippians 4:6-7.
One of the Sandry’s favorite quotes is “We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do…everything changes.” – David Platt
Doing back to back adoptions can be finically draining. But this family has stepped forward once again to say “Yes Lord, send us.”
Here is the link to their Reece’s Rainbow account if you’d like to help this family.
Truly, what better Christmas present for Katie Anne than to hear the news her family is coming soon!
We are in the same boat. We were in process to bring home our daughter and we found Jeff on RR who will turn 14 on January 30th! We had just sent our dossier docs to our agency and were DTC this past Friday. We have to travel by January 17th! Wishing you the very best and know it will all be worth it when she is with you!