Ukraine Orphans

Remember this little girl I posted a picture of a few weeks back?

She's been home just a few short weeks and the change in her is already very obvious.

But, there are still millions of orphans around the world who do not have a family and many who will never know the love of a family.

The special needs orphans pull a particular string, because they are so much more helpless. Their parents abandon them at birth simply because of their genetics, a deformity or a disability They abandon them over something the child had no choice in. Did that child choose to be born with a third 21st chromosome? No, God is the one who made him that way. Yet, because they aren't "perfect", many of these children are rejected or looked down upon by the society they are born into.

And so, they live their lives inside of a crib.

And then at 4 years old are transferred to an even worse place, a mental institution. To either live the rest of their life out locked up, tied to a crib or die very shortly after being sent there. Like these two little girls I wrote about in a blog post a year ago February.

Living your life inside of a crib, starved of love and adequate care & nutrition results in this:

This little boy is Wade. He has Down syndrome, is 3 years old and weighs about 10 lbs. Unbelievable, sickening and sad. He is in the same orphanage that the little girl at the top of this post, Hailee, was just rescued from. In the same room, where the "most needy" children are. Left in their cribs alone. When I saw his picture on this blog post, I couldn't help but cry. This little boy is adorable and he would be a baby I'd adopt right this moment, if adoption wasn't so difficult.

I wish there weren't so many stringent requirements in adoption, because then so many more people could adopt. (Yes, I understand why the requirements are there, but I still think it's a bit over board.)

If little Wade was born into a family who loved him, he would not be 10 lbs at 3 years old. I've seen it with my own eyes. My little brother has Down syndrome and we've loved him and treated him like any other child in our family and he has thrived beyond anything we were ever told! Just simple love goes so far.

Little Wade could do so well in a family and I can only hope that God will open the doors for us to be able to adopt a little guy like him someday.

Broken Record

Sometimes I feel like I may sound like a broken record, especially when it comes to the plight of the orphans around the world. But, it is something that is very important to me and I will keep talking about.

When my grandparents were here, my grandma was sharing some stories from her childhood. She had a brother who had mental retardation due to something that happened at birth. Back when he was born in the 1930's, America had mental institutions. And it was looked down upon to raise a child like him. Just like it is still in other countries around the world. My grandma's family had a bad stigma around them because her parents raised her brother.

Her mother was encouraged to put him in an institution type of thing when he was an early teen because they would teach him school and he would supposedly do well. Yeah right. She put him in there for a little bit, but hated it. And then ended up bringing him home because he wasn't being taught . . . it was a mental institution.

When my grandmother was telling us this, I couldn't help but think of the orphans who still live the plight of a mental institution and orphanage, even to this day. Yeah, America may not do it anymore and we have come a long ways in that regard, but loads of other countries still do it.

America has just changed what is done with children who have disabilities, namely Trisomies. Instead of putting these children into orphanages or institutions, they are murdered (aborted) 90% of the time a prenatal diagnosis is found.  Because many people still are scared of a child who has a disability. And reject the fact, that God is the one who made them with an extra chromosome. There's nothing that the child could do about it anyway!

Instead of being put into a horrible place to live, where there is hardly any love, where they are starved of proper nutrition and adequate food, and basically die a slow death, they are killed as soon as the diagnosis is found out. Except for the 10% of families who choose to keep their baby after they are given the diagnosis.

So, in these other countries around the world, like many Eastern European countries, you can see the children starved and you can see them dieing a slow death until they are rescued through adoption.

This is the reality of the orphanages in many countries:

How old would you say this little girl is? A year old? Give or take a little.

No, she just turned 5 years old. Yes, you read that right . . . F-I-V-E years old. And she weighs 15 lbs. Her family just adopted her and was able to take her out of the orphanage for good this past week. Just in the nick of time before she would be transferred to a mental institution where she would've very likely died quickly. She will now know the love of a family, instead of her small world of living in a crib.

Reece's Rainbow . . .

Reece's Rainbow is an adoption ministry for children with Down syndrome mainly, but also other special needs. They help to bring awareness and find families for the many orphans throughout the world, especially in Eastern Europe. 250 children have found families since Reece's Rainbow started in 2006. Many children have found their families this year and are in the process of being brought home.

The Bedford family is adopting their 3rd child with Down syndrome from Bulgaria. Their two other boys, Xander & Grifyn, came home from the Ukraine & Serbia in 2007 & 2008. You can see their blog here.

Shelley Bedford has a unique opportunity since she is adopting from Bulgaria. She has been able to get in contact with some parents in Bulgaria who have chose to keep & raise their child with Down syndrome. These families are going against the grain big time in their country by raising their children. Now, this may seem strange to some. But, in Eastern Europe (EE) parents are encouraged to give up their "imperfect" children (children with Down syndrome) and let the government raise them in orphanages & institutions. The orphanages & institutions do not give the child their fullest potential. Lack of resources, staff & love creates an environment where these children, who simply have an extra chromosome, do not thrive.

Some orphanages are very poor and the children have malnutrition and are very small. They also typically don't receive the kind of attention & care they need, which hinders them even more. Simply because these children don't have the love of a family, they do not thrive at all. You may have a 4 year old who is only 16lbs. That's not right. But, when these children are brought home to families they THRIVE. The turn around these children make is amazing.

Then you have the mental insitutions, which often times are much worse than the orphanages. The children will spend their day in cribs. Often times tied to their cribs for hours at a time. Even left in their own waste for a long time. Not all institutions are this way, but a lot are. In some EE countries, children are transferred from orphanges at 5 years old and sent to the institutions. Where they may spend just a few short months to a couple years before their death because of neglect & lack of love. Or, they may be there for many years and not be able to be adopted because that specific instition does not allow adoption once the children are transferred there. Thankfully there are some institutions which allow the children there to be adopted.

The boy Shelley is in the process of adopting from in Bulgaria is in an institution. But, he is not in one of the horrible institutions. He is in a place where there is more love & care given to the children.

Because of this opportunity Shelley has been given, a new branch of Reece's Rainbow has been started: Connecting The Rainbow. Connecting the Rainbow was put together to gather resources, therapy items & literature to give to the families in Eastern Europe who have chosen to keep their children. Becaue most people do not choose to keep their children with Down syndrome, the families who do keep their children do not have very many resources. So, Connecting The Rainbow was put together for people to donate items to and then they will be taken to Bulgaria.

So, check out the site and see if you are able to help Connecting the Rainbow in anyway! Shelley will hopefully be returning to Bulgaria in March or April and she hopes to be able to take a lot of supplies with her for the families there.

Qadoshyah

If only . . .

On February 11, two little girls died in Eastern Europe from the flu. These little girls had Down syndrome and because of that were put in an institution. Many of the children in Eastern Europe who are born with a diagnosis of Down syndrome, are placed in orphanages and when they turn 5 years old are sent to an institution. The children, once placed in an institution, typically die within the first year of being there. This is a very sad reality and something that happens all the time.

If only the perspective of doctors in these countries would change.

If only the doctors would not tell the parents the "state will do a better job" of raising these children that have something "wrong" with them.

If only parents weren't deceived into thinking these children are such a hardship.

If only countries wouldn't make adoption such an expensive, complicated process, so many more of these "unwanted" children could have families.

If only these children were given love, they would thrive.

But, instead, the children in these orphanages and institutions are left tied to cribs, starved, neglected, shunned, and unloved. They die at a young age and hardly anybody knows. Just like these two little girls below.

Margarita ~


Katarina ~

Qadoshyah