Boys who look like my son, revisited

Over 6 months ago, near the beginning of this journey, I posted about 3 boys who look like my son.

Today, as I looked through the pages of children who are special to me, I had trouble finding the picture of Peter M. in the additional children of Region 23. Why? Because he has a new picture and looks so much bigger. Peter M. will turn 4 about the time I am having my third child (June)... just look how much bigger he's gotten!



He doesn't look as much like my Peter anymore, but he is adorable... surely someone out there wants to be his mommy? I don't know when children in his region or orphanage are transferred, but some children are transferred as early as 3 or 4. Peter deserves a family who will love him, not an institution.

The two other little boys I posted about have not yet found families either. Kyle is now 5 and faces transfer soon. He badly needs a family to step up for him and save him from the institution. He's had a new photo for a while now:



Kyle doesn't look as much like my Peter anymore either, in part because Peter's hair doesn't usually get that long, but he is still precious too, and also deserves better than life tied to a bed in a mental institution.

At the same time I found Peter M's new picture, I discovered Andrew has a new picture, though he hasn't changed as much as the other two:



The information for Region 2, where Kyle and Andrew live, has been clarified, and there is a possibility Kyle and Andrew could be adopted together! Or, look at all the other sweet kids in region 2. Robyn, Celine, Elijah, and Jack live there as well... and if you fall in love with Megan, 6, who has just been transferred to a bad institution and has a grant over $20,000, and think she is your daughter and Andrew is your son, or if Evan, turning 11 this month, catches your eye and you think he is meant to be Kyle's big brother... trust me, I won't complain. They all need families just as badly.

Why international adoption of a child with special needs?

Elijah is a 3-year-old boy who has Down Syndrome.

Like any other little boy, he needs to be played with and loved. He needs to be held and hugged and kissed and given treats and little toy cars. He needs to kick balls around outside in the summer and he needs to play in the snow in the winter.

Instead he lives in a crib. If he leaves it, it's not often.

That's not what any child deserves. But unless someone decides to make a commitment to him, to spend a whole bunch of money, cross an ocean, to give their heart away to this little boy... he will never have the life he deserves. He will stay in that crib until one day he is moved to another bed he will never leave, in a worse place than he is in now. And he will live in that bed until he dies.

That is why people advocate for the international adoption of these little ones with special needs.

Little boy with Down Syndrome

Elijah is only 3. He has a heart defect and struggles with chronic bronchitis (but lots of kids have respiratory problems in EE that get better in the US--there are many more smokers in Eastern Europe, and the areas it is done are not restricted, so chronic smoke exposure causes respiratory problems for some kids). He also has Down Syndrome.

He needs a family.