Please forgive me for being so long in bringing this update
to you, but…We’ve Been Matched!! Friday June 1, Chris and I were relaxing on
the couch, basically getting ready for bed when we received a phone call at
10:23. It was my mother saying she was not coming to the house like we had
expected, but spending the night at my grandmother’s instead. So when the phone
rang 4 minutes later at 10:27, I almost answered “Yes, Mother” but I noticed
that the caller was an Illinois cell phone. The voice said “Hello Christine,
this is Elizabeth from Bethany”. I was suddenly awake! She had seen two little
girls pop up on the Shared list that evening that were close to the age range
we had specified, but just outside it. One had a birthdate of 5/2007 and one
10/2006 and both had cleft lip and palate. Were we interested in either girl,
she wanted to know? Jude’s birthdate is 8/3/2006 and we had wanted at least
about a year between them, so the May 2007 seemed like a pretty good fit, but
since it wasn’t a perfect fit, she wanted to call and confirm. We said yes, and
she said she would get off the phone and try to see if she was still on the
list (she could have been gone that fast!) and then lock her for us.
So we waited. 10:45, 11:00, 11:30. At 11:45 Chris said “I’m
going to bed”. At midnight I couldn’t keep my eyes open and went upstairs to
brush my teeth. I took my phone with me and as I was brushing my teeth, my
email notifier went “pop!” It was the referral from Elizabeth. I ran downstairs
and got the computer and Chris and I sat in the bed reviewing her file. We
decided to look at her file before her pics so that we wouldn’t be swayed by
her face. Her file does not say where she was found, but states that when she
was admitted to the orphanage on May 28, 2008, she had 2 sutures in her upper
lip. She was guesstimated to be about a year old and given the birthdate of May
15, 2007, my mother’s birthday.
She just turned 5 years old and is very tiny. In February
2012 she was reported as being 24 pounds and 34 inches tall, the size of a
typical 2 year old. Many kids in orphanages are small, so we are not too concerned
about her size but can’t wait to get her here to give her a healthy diet and
help her do some catching up! She is also probably anemic, due to lack of a
great diet. I’m sure having that open palate for so long made eating difficult.
She may always be a little peanut, but we will do what we can to help her reach
her fullest potential.
We read further and find that not only has her lip been
fixed, but her palate as well, in July of 2011, at the age of 4. This is great
news! Usually a palate repair is delayed until they are home with their
adoptive family. She will most likely require further surgeries, but it is good
to have the first stage out of the way. We also find that when she was brought
in at 1 year of age, she was sitting and crawling. This would be very unusual
for a baby who had been in the orphanage for her first year of life, so her
family blessed her by giving her 1 year of love and developmental
opportunities. Most likely they could not afford the surgeries to repair her
lip and palate and sadly, had to give her up, in order that she might get the
surgeries she needed. We’ll never know for sure, since it is illegal to abandon
children in China. It is highly unlikely that her mother will ever seek her out
for fear of significant retribution.
I read recently that cleft lip and palate happens in 1 out
of every 500 births in Asian countries, so very common. And sadly, many cannot
afford the surgeries to make their children well. In China you must pay up
front for any surgeries, and if you don’t have it, you don’t get treated. How
lucky we are in this country to have most if not all of our basic healthcare
needs met.
After reading her file we looked at the pictures provided. She
is precious. I can’t wait to be able to show you all. Our agency asks that we
wait until we have our “Letter of Approval” (LOA) to show pictures of her. This
can take anywhere between 36 and 136 days! After we get the LOA, it will be
approximately 2 months to travel, leaving time for all the other official
documents and processes that have to take place.
We can’t wait to bring her home. 5 years is long enough to
be without your forever parent. Pray for us that it will be sooner rather than
later. Pray for favor with the Chinese government, that they would find us completely
acceptable to be her parents (quickly). Pray for her protection there in that
orphanage, and pray for the preparation of her heart and ours, all 6 of us!
This is exciting and scary stuff. We are grateful God is using us in this way
and praying for his provision throughout.
Much love for all our supportive friends and family,
Christine