Oh the places I have been! Oh the things that I have seen!

Oh the love that I have felt! Oh the things that I have dreamed!

Two by two
Two oceans, Two countries, and 2 Mom’s too
A vision of love in my heart is so big
of a life pain free and somewhere to live
A time when I will be able to tell
the story of my life and my accomplishments as well
To tell of what home and family really do mean
And an answer to why they all call me Bean
To understand why my story makes people cry
and why 2 Mom’s were so eager to try
Despite being told that they were not mentally there
one let me go, the other stood by every scare
And in between Moms a place oh so kind
that loved me so much, a love that was blind
So in the future my wish is easy you see
that more people are families to children like me
Because what you will realize soon after you say yes
is that you are the one who is truly blessed

Love, Angel Baby Bean

(excerpt from http://www.ourhaitianjourney.blogspot.com)

This little girl “Irina” was born from an intended pregnancy.  Her mother had a rough pregnancy and she was born via emergency C-section and went into cardiac failure when she was 3 minutes old.  She was sent to the NICU where she spent her first two months of her life.   After she was discharged from the NICU she was sent to the orphanage where she has spent the majority of her time laying in a crib.

There is some concern that “Irina” has a brain injury from lack of oxygen in the initial moments after her birth.

A social worker visiting her this week interviewed the staff at her orphange and they said the following:

“because we (the staff) are not many, and I work more with the healthy children that need attention”. Irina lies in the bed almost all the day because “she has running nose often” (words of the staff). She feeds from a bottle. A progress that Irina made was the she taught herself to turn back from back to stomach, and she started raising her head and back. The worker told us that Irina has weak interest to everything but I do not think she can develop this interest if nobody works with her. My opinion is that the individual care can develop some skills, interest and progress. I am not sure what exactly and how much this individual care would do for her progress but I am sure that it will be better than the child just to lie in the bed all day. The psychologist also told me that Irina has no speech but I do not think that she can teach herself alone without anyone talking to her. She pronounces some sounds.“

She is calm child, does not make any problems, and does not cry. She smiles very rare.

I hope if she has the chance to be brought up in familial environment, to receive love and individual cares, that she can have better progress in her development. I hope if she has the chance to be brought up in familial environment, to receive love and individual cares, that she can have better progress in her development. “

This to me, is HEARTBREAKING.  This child has never known the loving touch of another human being.  Her diaper is changed, she receives adequate nutrition, but she receives no love.   When a child no longer cries they have given up.  I can’t tell you with love, therapy and attention Irina will be a “normal” little girl, but she certainly could be so much more.

Six years ago I sat in a hospital room with my sister listening to a stream of diagnosis…..midline defect, spina bifida, bacterial meningitis, probable chromosome anomaly, blind, deaf, profound brain damage….I remember thinking…she is a human being, NOT a diagnosis….Six years later my niece is a vibrant kindergartner  who does well in school and has a long list of friends.  I hope with all my heart there is a mom out there for little Irina.  A mom who is willing to accept her for the person she is and the person she could become.

Please contact Nina.t@chiadopt.org for more information on adopting Irina!

Team Orphans endeavors to help abandoned children by competing in their honor. It can be both a single athlete seeking sponsorship for an event or a group of determined individuals fundraising and competing together. Either way, we are all teaming up to bring children home to their forever families!

Rebecca Cruttenden, founder of Team Orphans, is a dedicated mom of three adopted children and a Brittany’s Hope grant recipient from 2003. She has raised over $17,000 for Brittany’s Hope in the last 2 years through her Ironman events. She, her husband Tom and her children live in Rockford Michigan. Her next race is Ironman Arizona, Nov 18, 2012.

The survey below is intended to inform policy makers on adoptive families’ experiences when interacting with U.S. government officials during the intercountry adoption process. Data from this survey will be used to help identify areas of possible improvement within the current process. All questions should be answered based on your personal experience with U.S. government officials (not with your adoption agency representative). Your candid answers are appreciated. The responses will be consolidated and presented in a cumulative format. No personal identifying information will be included or divulged.

Results received by February 14 at 5:00pm will be made available to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for use in an upcoming roundtable on intercountry adoption. The survey will remain open until March 1.

If you are an adoptive parent or prospective adoptive parent, please use the following link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Surveyonintercountryadoptionparents

This sweet little girl is also waiting.  She was also born with Down Syndrome and is only two years old.  She weighs 17lbs and is very small for her age.  She is showing signs of delays in development because she does not receive the attention and care that she needs.  This little girl would thrive in a family of her own.  For information on these children and additional children with Down Syndrome please email Nina at nina.t@chiadopt.org.

We need some truly extra special parents to love and care for our little
“Kenzie”. She has a complex heart condition that holds unknowns in adulthood.
But there is so much promise in surgical options in the years to come that
perhaps Kenzie’s heart condition could be fully addressed. OR it is even
possible that upon evaluation in the United States, her heart can be fixed. We
have seen amazing things with our heart babies!! But families need to be aware
that Kenzie might not have a normal life span at this point. There is just much
that we don’t know and won’t until she can be seen by specialist in the United
States.

We now know that Kenzie is currently at Shepard’s Field. Her name there is
Heather. One of our CHI families has also met her in person and is happy to
share her experience. (Thank you SO MUCH Shannon!) There is a current picture
of this divine child that we have put on our group homepage. We have also
learned that she needs a sponsor for Shepard’s Field. Even if you can’t bring
her home perhaps you can bring her hope?!

http://chinaorphans.org/sponsor.html

Little Kenzie would enjoy picnics and fireworks on her birthday with an American
family. She was born July 2009.

She has been under the guardianship of an SWI and now at Shepard’s Field. On
Jan.19 2010 she was hospitalized because of coughing, the UCG report: CHD, 1.
endocardial cushions defect, 2. PTA. Diagnose on discharge: acute
alveobronchiolitis (severe), cardiac insufficiency, CHD: endocardial cushions
defect and PTA.

Her living schedule: get up at 5:30, breakfast at 6:30, lunch at 10:30, nap at
noon at 12:00, supper at 18:00, and go to bed at 19:00. She has porridge and
noodles as the staple food, a bowl for each time, and her snacks are mainly
milk, egg and fruit, she has good appetite, and her favorite foods are fruits
and meat. She is nearly 2 years old, under the care of the aunt now she learnt
to walk and eat meals. Now she needs not the oxygen uptake, and she only take
the medicine for CHD once per day.

Kenzie has deep sleep, and she can sleep to the morning without waking up. She
likes to play with other children; her personality is quiet, dislikes to rob
toys from little partners, and she is little girl loved by all the ones who sees
her. Her life is regular, and her intellect is also developing, now she can play
some toys which need good mental ability, and she can understand adults’ words,
even she begins to learn some simple characters, so aunts all like her changes.

On Aug.10 2010 she had the general circulation and lesser circulation shunt in a
Beijing Hospital, and the operation was smooth. On Sep.29 2010, considering the
risk, she did not have the congenital heart defect operation; the details can be
seen on the PE form.

Now Kenzie’s height is 86cm, weight: 10kg, head size: 47cm, chest size: 52cm,
teeth: 16. Since she is a patient of CHD, she has not been vaccinated. She is a
lovely and active little girl, and we hope that she could be adopted by a
foreign family and wish her grow up healthily and vigorously.

Information provided July 28 2011

To review Kenzie’s full file, please send and email to CHI coordinator Heidi
Hawkins at heidigoestochina@msn.com. A Brittany’s Hope Matching Grant is also
available for Kenzie’s adoption!  Please email Heidi at heidigoestochina@msn.com for information.

]]> http://childrenshouseinternational.com/baby-jada-is-still-waiting/feed/ 0 http://childrenshouseinternational.com/little-angel-available-for-adoption/ http://childrenshouseinternational.com/little-angel-available-for-adoption/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:02:02 +0000 nina http://childrenshouseinternational.com/?p=3178 Read more...]]> Ok, she isn’t a real Angel, but little Cecily is a sweet little girl with a gentle nature.  She is very bright and shows no delays despite growing up in an orphanage in Eastern Europe.  Cecily was born with the enteric form of Cystic Fibrosis…The main effects have been to her intestines.  If you have it in your heart to adopt this little angel, please email Nina at Nina.t@chiadopt.org.