National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month.

I'm screaming this for all to hear. Pass the word on. Make people talk about it. There are millions of children waiting for homes. While my family pursued an international adoption from India, the options are countless. Foster care is a wonderful system. They need great families. There are LOTS of older children that need homes. If you haven't opened your heart to adoption and are reading this, come on. Join us. Parenting is a great adventure.
Here is a short article that I wrote for the next newsletter from our adoption agency, Dillon International.

Waiting Children: What the Medical Reports Don't Tell You

She waited in the crib. At nine-months old, she weighed in at a tiny 11 pounds, could barely sit on her own and could not pull up in the bed she shared with another child.
Across the world, we were also waiting. We longed for a daughter, a sister for our son. God was pushing our hearts toward adoption- not of the "perfect" child, but of the child He intended to be our daughter.
The waiting ended in February 2007 when we adopted Ananya from the Indian Society for the Rehabilitation of Children (ISRC) in Kolkata, India. She is the blessing God put in our hearts two years ago and her smile lights up our home.
While in the care of the ISRC, Ananya received medical care and regular visits from a physical therapist. The medical reports we received from India were accurate: she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, low birth weight, and a seizure disorder. There were no surprises; we were handed the child that was described to us.
We have since learned some things the medical reports don't tell you: how a child can sprout with the daily care and love of a family. In only a couple of months, she could crawl all over the house. Her understanding of language came shortly thereafter. Her bonding has been extraordinary. She quickly learned to trust me and is firmly attached to me.
No medical report could describe how much our family has grown in the last eight months. Each of us has learned to be patient, less selfish, to look at people differently. Our weeks are filled with physical therapy sessions and we rarely go a month without a visit to the doctor, but all this is minute compared to the joy we receive daily from having Ananya in our family.
A medical report also could not have predicted that I would become an advocate for the adoption of waiting children. Fear of the unknown can be a hard emotion to overcome. Find a good doctor and let them review the medical information; most medical problems can fbe fixed or managed. Consider the adoption of a waiting child. You may be amazed at what comes next.

All I can say is please get involved. If you do feel the push to adopt, you can help other families. There are many organizations that help families fund their adoptions. There are also organizations, such as Dillon that do mission work in many of the countries where there are a large number of orphans. If you can't open your heart, open your wallet.
Amanda