Malnourishment

This is Sasha:


He is 7 years old. Seven! His profile says 6, so the picture may be a little older, but this little boy is badly malnourished. He needs a family to save his life. You shouldn't adopt a child just to save a life. You have to want that little boy or girl to be part of your family. But sometimes, these kids do need their lives saved. Sasha might just be strong enough to hang on another year, maybe even another decade in whatever institution he's in. But sooner or later he will die alone and hungry and bedbound. Love won't take away Down Syndrome, or cerebral palsy, or autism (at least not on its own, and maybe at all). Love can't erase all the effects of seven years of institutionalization. Love will never make Sasha's first 7 years go away. But only love can save his life.

A short trip and some pocket change

I have apparently already used "Another sweet little boy" and "A little boy who needs a family".... suggestions for future posts?


This is "Chandler." God planned his birth from the very foundations of the Universe. He loved Chandler so much that He sent Jesus, His only Son, to die on the cross so that this little boy could know God's grace and eternal life in heaven. Think about what Jesus did for Chandler--and for you. Almost makes 2 trips to Eastern Europe and twenty-five thousand dollars seem inconsequential. Almost.

But if God is for it, who could stand against it?

Look beyond the picture

Look beyond this picture.

He has crossed eyes. Probably that will need correction.

He has Down Syndrome.

He isn't smiling.

But...
Dmitry is a five-year-old boy who desperately needs a loving family. He needs someone like you--not a perfect mom (or dad), but ANY mom or dad. He needs a chance. Could you give him that?

Because I guarantee you, whatever little you could give him here, he's not getting there.

Sweet girl in a Minnie Mouse shirt

Brittany is 6 years old. She is able to walk and speak at least some, but she is quite delayed due to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. My daughter Hannah has the same shirt she is wearing (and loves it). A family would make a huge difference to Brittany. Are you that family?

Two kids you won't see on Reece's Rainbow (and one you will)

This little girl, Anja, is actually 3. Her picture is clearly out of date.



Her records list enuresis and vesicoureteral reflux (I don't know much about this condition--it can require surgery but she might have outgrown it by now). She is also expected to need corrective lenses.

And this is Pyotr:

Pyotr will turn 2 in December. He is lactose intolerant and has a posterior tongue tie which was repaired but then grew back--the condition should not require medical treatment. He exhibits some pica (eating non-food objects). The records say Pyotr has some words but is hard to understand. He is not toilet trained.

Here's another picture:

Anja and Pyotr are actually siblings. And they don't look miserable or asleep all the time.


They can walk. They can play creatively.


And they are actually brilliant. Pyotr has a vocabulary of over 20 words. So what if he's hard to understand? So what if he's not potty trained? So what if he eats dirt? He's not even two yet.

If you haven't figured it out yet, Anja and Pyotr are my biological kids, Hannah and Peter. Everything I wrote about them is true (Hannah has outgrown her vesicoureteral reflux). Enuresis--bedwetting--is common up until kindergarten at least. Posterior tongue tie is pretty much irrelevant once the child is no longer nursing--well, maybe it would affect French kissing, but not a big deal. Lactose intolerance is an issue, but not as big of an issue as I might have thought.

The fact that I can make my fairly typical kids (who, of course, are brilliant and a joy) sound like risky, medically needy kids can tell you a few things. It tells you that some diagnoses aren't as scary as they sound. It tells you that a bad picture can make a big difference in how you perceive a child. If the first picture you saw was 1 1/2 year old Pyotr playing ring-around-the-rosies, or 3-year-old Anja tracing the alphabet, you would have had a totally different impression of them. I see the first picture of my daughter and I know that's Hannah when she's unhappy; you might look at it and assume Hannah is an unhappy girl. I look at the picture of Peter and remember him falling asleep in the playpen when I gave him a timeout; you might think he lives in that playpen and his legs are stuck in that position.

Now, you also might realize that having children by birth can give you something you didn't expect too. I never would have chosen a child with lactose intolerance. Can you believe that? I would not have picked my own son. That's painful to think about. But now that I understand it (and am dealing with it anyway) it's a non-issue to me.

I've been wanting to do this post for a while but hadn't found time to do it; I hope it helps bring home what a picture and a description of a child's challenges (rather than strengths) can't tell you.

One more picture.

This is Amie. She has Down Syndrome.
She doesn't look very happy. Maybe she doesn't have a reason to be very happy--or maybe this picture doesn't show how happy she is. There isn't any medical information about Amie. If a family adopted her they could end up with just about anything.

And they would end up with a daughter.

Vanessa has a family!

Vanessa has a family! :)

One more kid I've featured who has a family:

I have been busy trying to work on my own adoption process, mostly the education component... but I just had to post that Josiah, the very first little boy I advocated for here, is now on the MFFM page! I am so thrilled that he will have a home and a family. His family will be so blessed.