Another family united.
Wow, I just reread my last post. Negative! Sorry about that...I realize that some back pain is a pretty minor health issue in the scheme of things. I have a hard time doing nothing...tend to get depressed very quickly. The good news is that Wednesday's massage helped a bit, and my doctor prescribed me some new pain medication. So hopefully things will improve soon.
Now, into GOOD NEWS. When I first got active in the on-line adoption community, I "met" a woman, Dawn, whose family was at the same point in the process as Tim and I. They ended up finding a waiting child (a child considered to be "special needs"), and applied to adopt her. Her name is EmmaLi Faith. Originally, EmmaLi had a club foot, but it has since straightened and she is able to walk normally. On Monday, Dawn and her family met EmmaLi in China, and EmmaLi met her forever family. Click this link to see her web site: EmmaLi.
Isn't she lovely? Dawn has been a tremendous source of support for me, and I am so happy for this family.
Tim and I have discussed whether or not we should consider adopting a waiting child a great deal. Cuurently, we are not approved in our homestudy to do so (we didn't ask to be evaluated for a special needs child). We've stuck with the Non Special Needs program for a couple of reasons. One, we've never had a child, and we would like to experience being parents to a child that is as young as possible. Two, we've never been parents and have no idea what we are doing...We both have thought at times that it might be easier to start with a child that appears to have no special needs, at least until we learn the ropes.
But these waiting children tug at my heart. Sometimes I feel foolish being sad and upset about the long wait time these days when so many are waiting. And sometimes their "special needs" are simply that they are a bit older, or something that is a minor medical problem in the US. We have some of the best hospitals in the world in our back yard. Finally, although I am not against abortion as a personal choice for some people, I don't believe I would ever personally abort a biological child even if I found out he or she had a serious medical issue. So I go back and forth. The resolution I've come to for now is that perhaps when we adopt a second time, and are more experienced parents, we will apply to adopt a waiting child.
Now, into GOOD NEWS. When I first got active in the on-line adoption community, I "met" a woman, Dawn, whose family was at the same point in the process as Tim and I. They ended up finding a waiting child (a child considered to be "special needs"), and applied to adopt her. Her name is EmmaLi Faith. Originally, EmmaLi had a club foot, but it has since straightened and she is able to walk normally. On Monday, Dawn and her family met EmmaLi in China, and EmmaLi met her forever family. Click this link to see her web site: EmmaLi.
Isn't she lovely? Dawn has been a tremendous source of support for me, and I am so happy for this family.
Tim and I have discussed whether or not we should consider adopting a waiting child a great deal. Cuurently, we are not approved in our homestudy to do so (we didn't ask to be evaluated for a special needs child). We've stuck with the Non Special Needs program for a couple of reasons. One, we've never had a child, and we would like to experience being parents to a child that is as young as possible. Two, we've never been parents and have no idea what we are doing...We both have thought at times that it might be easier to start with a child that appears to have no special needs, at least until we learn the ropes.
But these waiting children tug at my heart. Sometimes I feel foolish being sad and upset about the long wait time these days when so many are waiting. And sometimes their "special needs" are simply that they are a bit older, or something that is a minor medical problem in the US. We have some of the best hospitals in the world in our back yard. Finally, although I am not against abortion as a personal choice for some people, I don't believe I would ever personally abort a biological child even if I found out he or she had a serious medical issue. So I go back and forth. The resolution I've come to for now is that perhaps when we adopt a second time, and are more experienced parents, we will apply to adopt a waiting child.
posted by Redheaded Chick at 2:39 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Tammy,
I'm Hui-Hui's dad, I see you have his blog linked on yours!
This post struck a chord with me as Hui-Hui is a "special-needs" child and was on our agency's list of waiting children. When we started the process we applied for a healthy infant girl, as young as possible. As things turned out we now have a 3 year old boy! However, like EmmaLi's family, we already had two teenage "bio" kids. Even with that kind of experience under our belts, I was very apprehensive about receiving a "SN" child.
I can certainly understand how these children tug at your heartstrings, but it is important to do what feels right for you and your husband. Your future daughter (wherever she is right now) deserves a forever family as much as any other child. In that regard she too is "waiting" and has a special need, the need of a loving family!
Good luck to you on you journey. I know the waiting is difficult, but believe me, it is so worth it!
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