There have been stories in the news about the conditions of the institutions, and even the orphanages, in Serbia ... here is one link ...Mentally Ill in Serbia are Abused (New York Times)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
About those institutions
As I mentioned in my first post, special needs children are almost always abandoned at birth overseas. It is basically taboo in their society to raise a special needs child. The children spend the first four years of their life in an orphanage and if they are not adopted during that time, they are sent to institutions. Most institutions do not allow the children to be adopted, leaving them to die in horrible conditions. Thus my desire to begin this journey. If these photos do not tug your heart strings, I don't know what will.
There have been stories in the news about the conditions of the institutions, and even the orphanages, in Serbia ... here is one link ...
Mentally Ill in Serbia are Abused (New York Times)
There have been stories in the news about the conditions of the institutions, and even the orphanages, in Serbia ... here is one link ...Mentally Ill in Serbia are Abused (New York Times)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
How it all started ...
In 1999, Kyle and I got married after having dated for about five years. About a year later, we started thinking about adding to our family. We tried, tried, and tried again, with no success. During this time, I often wondered if adoption would become the way we would have a family. I definitely was open to the idea, but my yearn for biological kids was greater at that time.
In April 2003, after four failed intrauterine inseminations (IUI), we tried in vetro fertilization (IVF). It was successful! Two years later, we tried again and were successful. Our children, Mason and Payton, are now four and two years old, respectively. Payton brought with her a little something extra in the way of chromosomes ... a thing called Down syndrome.
Prior to having Payton, we had no experience with Down syndrome. She has opened our lives to things in this world to which we had never paid attention. One of those things is international adoption of children with Down syndrome. You see, in many other countries, raising a child with a disability is taboo. Those children are abandoned at birth and spend the first four years of their lives in an orphanage prior to being transferred to an institution if they are not adopted before then. A large number of those children then die within the first year of being in an institution because the conditions are so horrible.
And thus our journey begins ... adopting a child with Down syndrome has weighed very heavy on my heart for awhile now. I have secretly started this adoption blog to record my thoughts ... if and when we commit to a child, I will share the blog with others.
In April 2003, after four failed intrauterine inseminations (IUI), we tried in vetro fertilization (IVF). It was successful! Two years later, we tried again and were successful. Our children, Mason and Payton, are now four and two years old, respectively. Payton brought with her a little something extra in the way of chromosomes ... a thing called Down syndrome.
Prior to having Payton, we had no experience with Down syndrome. She has opened our lives to things in this world to which we had never paid attention. One of those things is international adoption of children with Down syndrome. You see, in many other countries, raising a child with a disability is taboo. Those children are abandoned at birth and spend the first four years of their lives in an orphanage prior to being transferred to an institution if they are not adopted before then. A large number of those children then die within the first year of being in an institution because the conditions are so horrible.
And thus our journey begins ... adopting a child with Down syndrome has weighed very heavy on my heart for awhile now. I have secretly started this adoption blog to record my thoughts ... if and when we commit to a child, I will share the blog with others.
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