Faces of Special Needs Adoption

I belong to a yahoo group that advocates for children in China who are waiting for a family to call their own. These children are considered to have "special needs".

In an attempt to remove some of the stigma and fear surrounding the special needs label, real families have been asked to write a blog post to share the secret!

Do you know the secret?

Once the secret is out, my hope is more families will look beyond the scary sounding medical terms and see the precious child who WILL amaze you if given a chance to live up to his or her potential.

The secret is..... these are children first and foremost. They are so much more than the sum of their medical needs. And they will thrive with the love and care of a family.

We have adopted twice through China's Special Needs program.

Cami was born cleft affected. Her lip surgery was performed by a female craniofacial surgeon at a large medical center thanks to a grant from Love Without Boundaries.

We were with her for her palate repair and though she most likely will need one more surgery, braces, and speech therapy for a while longer, these needs are not out of the range of normal for any child born today.

Cami is a smart and active little girl who loves to draw and go to gymnastics.

When we planned to adopt a second time through the China Special Needs program, we surprised ourselves by falling in love with a little girl who had a need I had always been afraid of.

Delilah was born with a form of spina bifida. She had surgery in Shanghai, thanks to China Care.

The neurosurgeon who follows her here in the US said "the surgery was textbook perfect" and exactly what he would have done.

Delilah has no effects from the special need label she was given. She runs and jumps and plays. Her special need is now basically a SCAR on her back.

If you have adopted a child who was considered special needs, I hope you will also blog about it and show the world the face of your child.

Special Needs children make great SISTERS!




and Great Little Mamas in Training!



And like all children, they carry themselves with mystery and majestic beauty. They know the secret...... They know the truth is they are SPECIAL and their needs are as special as they are!