Reality

I will never claim to be the "best" advocate for orphans, and I certainly know of others who devote more time to informing others about the realities of orphans, but I believe with all of my heart that there is indeed an orphan crisis in this world. Let me share a couple of true stories of situations that have happened in the past couple weeks.

There was a little girl, five years old, living in an orphanage in Eastern Europe. She had only recently been listed for adoption, meaning that she lived the first five years of her life without even the possibility of being adopted. Once she was finally listed, a family committed to her quickly and began the process of trying to expedite her adoption because, believe it or not, this little girl weighed ten pounds. At five years old. Now here comes the really tragic part of this story - this little girl passed away last week. Before her family was able to get there. She died alone. And she died of starvation and neglect.

Now let me tell you about another child, a little boy this time, seven years old. He was recently adopted and made it home to the U.S. Because he also weighed about ten pounds (remember he is seven years old), he went immediately to the hospital upon arriving in this country. He was at great risk for re-feeding syndrome (which, if you're not familiar with this, is a very serious condition that can occur when a child who has been severely malnourished for an extended period of time is suddenly given good nutrition - their body just can't handle it and it can potentially be fatal) and in addition, his adoption file had indicated that he had multiple medical conditions and special needs. As you could probably guess, he underwent all kinds of medical tests in the hospital - and it was discovered that he had none of the conditions listed in his file. His "special" needs? Scoliosis and a clubbed foot. In other words, if he had received appropriate medical care from birth, he most likely would be a typical, healthy seven-year-old boy. Instead, he was starved and neglected, because of his "special needs" and is developmentally still an infant, although admittedly one with extraordinary untapped potential.

These situations are not unique. Many, many other orphans in this world live in similar conditions, and only a small percentage of them are even listed for adoption. I write this particular post to raise awareness of the realities of the lives of special needs orphans in many parts of the world, and to share the darkest side of this orphan situation.

I will forever be thankful that Kellin is no longer one of these neglected children, but I also know that I will never be able to forget about the many orphans still waiting, still suffering, and I will continue to do what I can to help them as long as I am able. Please consider what you can do. Pray, advocate, donate, fundraise, adopt - whatever you can do DOES make a difference.

Please don't forget about these children, the ones who are extra special to me:

Handsome Robbie!

Sweet Shepard

Xander, our Angel Tree child

Jesse, who has been waiting SO LONG

Quinntavius, who is not in a good orphanage situation and needs OUT

I am always happy to share more information about any of these children, or about the adoption process in general! Just send me a message, leave a comment, etc.

As a reminder of what a difference a family can make, here are the newest Kellin skills:

Kellin has a new enthusiasm for eating! He now will willingly and even eagerly (sometimes) feed himself pretty much anything that is hard, crunchy, and comes in bite-sized pieces (crackers, cereal, veggie straws, Cheetos, etc.). It is so amazing to see him actually ENJOYING eating, as I think back to all of the hours and hours we have spent over the past ten months coaxing him to eat, often with him screaming the whole time. I am not saying that mealtime is always a pleasant experience - he still fusses and complains at times - but the contrast between now and several months ago is so profound I can't quite believe it sometimes. He is well on his way to becoming an independent eater!

Kellin's preschool reported that he said "no" twice this morning! He still has no true, consistent, verbal words, so any progress toward this is exciting! And his newest sign - "window!" Because he loves to look out the window, especially if it is sunny.

Kellin climbs in and out of his booster seat at the table all by himself. And he is working on climbing into his car seat in the van by himself. He continues to become more and more comfortable with walking around at home and in public.

Hanging out in a chair at school.

Kellin decided to explore the bathroom and managed to find the toilet. If only we could teach him what that is for . . .