A Home for the Holidays

It's that time of year again. Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree has started.

This year, I jumped on board before it started, committing to raise funds for a child needing a family, needing, if not a home, a promise of a home for the holidays. I first picked a little boy I was able to provide the alias for - he went by Corwyn. So you see why I picked him. Within a week, he not only had a family committed to adopting him, they were already traveling to his country to meet him!

So I picked another child to help. Shawna was a cutie in Asia. 2 days later she was 'on hold' followed 3 days later moving to "My family found me". I was overjoyed.

So again, I was going through the children still looking for sponsors on the Angel Tree. I happened upon Christian He is in Eastern Europe, has Down Syndrome and an unspecified heart condition. He is also 4. A mere month older than my own boys.

From his profile, he can walk and feed himself. He can talk a bit. He LOVES music. He is a bit shy and sensitive. He sounds very much like a pair of 4 year old boys I have at home. But he needs a family. He needs someone who can sing him to sleep at night. He needs someone who can play games with him, help him develop his speech. Someone who can teach him to ride a bike. Someone who can help him reach his potential. Someone to say "I love you".

Please share this blog post. Please share Christian's story. As his Angel Tree warrior, I'm committed to raising $1000 for Christian. This can help  his new family bring him home. But more than the money, I would really like to be 3 for 3. I want Christian to find his family before Angel Tree is over. To do that, people need to know he exists. Sharing his page helps!

If you can, please donate. Talk to your friends, families, bowling team, knitting circle, Church group. everyone and see if they can help. The more money in his grant, the easier it will be for a committed family to get him home.

To donate, click on the giant button on my page. It will take you to the Angel Tree. Search for Christian (match the picture to be sure). Click the blue donate button under him. You'll see 2 options....one will be 'buy ornament', this is a 35 donation. It will get you a great Ornament for your tree with Christian's picture on it. $5 of your donation will go to the ornament production and shipping costs. Ornaments can be shipped to anywhere in the world! If you don't want an ornament, click here and donate

Again, even if you can't donate, please share Christian and the other children on the Angel Tree with everyone.


Some of you might remember last year's post http://www.andmommymakes3.com/2012/12/it-makes-difference-to-this-one.html . Sweet Serenity met her goal of 1000. Unfortunately, she lives in a country that first banned adoptions from the USA and now from Canada. She will remain in an institution for the rest of her life, what little there is likely left. Her grant was transferred to another child, one that still has hopes of a family. I had input into where it would go and picked Mick

It makes a difference to this one

Some of you have probably seen the big glaring request to save someone called Serenity and had no idea what it was about. Well, now is your chance to learn. Serenity is a little girl who just turned 4. She should be running and playing and looking forward to a visit from Ho-Ho soon. But instead, she is in a baby house in Eastern Europe, wasting away. She doesn't know she is waiting for a forever family; she doesn't even know what a family is.
Serenity

Serenity was born with Down Syndrome. That's it, an extra chromosome that in her country marks her as useless, unable to learn, a waste. I don't know what was going on in her parent's mind. Perhaps they loved her, no matter what and wanted to raise her, but were met with the obstacles of family disownment, no money for special care (and trust me the govt wont step up). They would know that she would not be permitted to go to school, could be turned away from even the basic care. Maybe, just maybe, knowing this, they hoped someone else would adopt her. Or maybe her parents bought into the hype that the extra chromosome meant she wasn't worth loving. Whatever the reason, she was left at the baby house.

The baby houses are where abandoned babies, all babies, regardless of their developmental expectations are placed. The baby houses vary, from country to country, region to region and even city to city. In some, the children with challenges are treated the same as those with an average chromosome count. They are played with, taught to walk and talk. In some they are shunned, placed in back rooms only the minimum support required by law. In all, there is not enough funding, not enough resources to give any of the kids what they need to grow and develop. Some of these special needs kids are never taken from their cribs, ever. They are fed formula or broth through a bottle, even at age 4 or 5 because it's too much effort for the one 'nanny' to take 10 out of cribs for feeding by herself.

 It sounds sad. It is. But the baby houses, even the bad ones are the good places. Between 5 and 6, they age out. For developmentally average kids, aging out means an orphanage. Not a great place. But they will be fed and cared for. They will go to school and be taught a trade. They will eventually leave. For the kids with Down Syndrome or CP or other things affecting development (physical or mental) aging out means mental institutions. Mental institutions with adults with problems. Mental institutions where they may be tied to their beds to keep them from hurting themselves. Mental institutions that they will leave only when they die.

A few years ago, I stumbled onto Reeces Rainbow. I wrote about it then Counting my Blessings  I am happy to say, the three kids I wrote about then have all found families and doing great. I read the blogs of their adoptive families, and while there are struggles, the results are astounding.

Last year, I donated to 3 orphans. I have their ornaments. Sadly, all three of those are still waiting for families.

This year, I wanted to do more than just donate a few bucks. I wanted to advocate to help one of these kids find a family. So I applied to be a Christmas Warrior, someone who would along with trying to raise funds for one child, would get the word out there about all these kids. Maybe someone reading this, a friend of a friend of a friend, would realize that a child they see is one that has been waiting to join their family.

I was allowed to be Serenity's warrior. She is just a bit older than my boys. She's never been held. She's never been tickled. She's never been loved. If she had been born in North America, she would be in a loving home, with a family. Here, there are waiting lists of people looking to adopt babies with Down Syndrome. But she wasn't born here so to be adopted, she needs a family to travel across the world to get her. It's an expensive process, running between 25,000 and 35,000. Families do all they can to raise money. Reeces Rainbow helps by helping raise money too.

Reeces Rainbow is a registered USA charity. Donations are tax deductible. If you donate 35 (or more) to a single child, you will get an amazing ornament sent to you as a reminder that you are making a difference.

The goal is to raise 1000 from the Angel Tree for Serenity before Jan 1. If you can, please help.



Along with donations, I'm part of a Facebook auction. There are many items, going to support many kids in the Angel Tree including the ones I've listed to help move Serenity towards her goal. The opening bids are low and many items have no bids on them. If you want to find the ones specific to Serenity, you can ask, or you can check each out (orphan will be named in the description). Angel Tree Auction just go to the album and click on it.

The Angel Tree works. Since coming up a few weeks ago, 10 kids have already found families willing to adopt them. Those families are early in the process, but this will be their last Christmas without a family.

Here is what it means to be a kid in Canada. Want to help fund a family to make this possible for Serenity?

Counting my Blessings

I am so lucky. I have two very healthy, wonderful boys whom I love very much. I would have loved them just as much though if they had been born with medical, physical or intellectual issues. I'm very lucky that I live in a Country where there is support if I had needed had things gone differently.


Not every mother or child is as lucky. I was reminded of this by a fellow blogger last week. When I was fighting down the fertility path, I took a serious look at adoption (actually, I continue to look in that direction as a way of expanding the family in the future, but that's a different story). During that time, while I coveted an infant adoption, I didn't rule out an older child or a special needs child. I subscribed to the Canadian Waiting kids list for those who can be adopted out of province because of hard to place issues. I read and reread the waiting children's list in my province. I looked at international adoptions, but there were such restrictions on single parents adopting that I was put off. I was waiting for the next adoption class to come around again when I started the IVF/DE process.

In my searches, I read many heart breaking stories of kids in needs. Of kids needing specific family types (aboriginal or other racial requirement, religious affiliation, a particular family makeup etc). The list of waiting kids I could have adopted locally was actually quite small. I also looked at the hard to place kids in the US. What I didn't know about was the special needs waiting kids overseas. I found Reece's Rainbow, started reading about each child and my heart broke over and over again.

Most of the children here have Down Syndrome, with some or none of the health complications associated with the disorder. What they have though is the misfortune of being born in a Country where there is no service, teaching or even information for them. Many, if not most are abandoned at birth. The birth family has no support in bringing one of these special kids home and do the only thing they feel they can. Reece's Rainbow is also working towards birth family support programs. Reece's Rainbow

From birth until about 5, these kids are in what are called baby houses, with other orphans their age. The degree of care in these facilities varies by region from amazing to deplorable. But even the worse baby facilities is better than where these kids will end up when they reach 6. At 6 they moved into an adult mental institution. You heard right, adult. In here, they will not get personalized care. Many will be left strapped to their bed all day. None will receive therapy or love. Lots will die. Once moved to these facilities, they are no longer available for adoption.

There is also a group of children with HIV looking for homes. Living in the USA or Canada, these kids will have access to medication that will improve their health and life expectancy. Last week they announced that they were able to reverse HIV using stem cells. This means that a cure is possible within the lifetime of these kids if they were able to find homes in North America. One set of kids there really caught my eye. They are boy/girl twins almost the age of my two. In a few years, they will be moved to the institutional setting. Whats worse for them is that the men and women's institutes are separate and they will never see each other again. As a twin parent it rips at me to think of twins split up. Even if I had the funds to adopt this pair, they are not eligible for single parent adoption. Max and Lena Hopefully they find a home before they are split up.

Reece's Rainbow is not a placement agency. They don't receive fees for matching parents to children. But they do work with the baby houses to get lists and medical information about children available for international placement. They also collect donations for each child to help the adopting family cover the fees. It costs the same to adopt a special needs child internationally as it does one with no extra issues. This is in the range of 24-35,000 depending on various factors. You can adopt multiple children at one time with very little extra cost.

Right now, there is a holiday program called Reece's Angels, where you can contribute to the fund for one or many children. You will get an ornament with the child's picture. They are trying to get $1000 per child this year. Angel Tree Page Some of the children have over 5,000 available in their funds to help find them homes, which hopefully means they will be home before next Christmas. Others have under $200.

All kids deserve not just a home, but the right home for them. My home isn't the right one right now, but even my small donation may make it possible for one of these kids to find the right home for them. If I could swing it, financially and family dynamic wise, right now, I'd find a way to bring Daria home. She looks like she'd be such a little joy and a great sister to the boys. Daria

And maybe even your home is the right one for one of these kids. If not, consider helping another family bring one of these kids home.