Adoption News Update

Late last week, the waiting child department of our agency contacted us regarding two new "waiting child" files they received. Both files were little girls in DaNang.

The first little girl was a child with bilateral cleft lip and palate, accompanied with language and motor delays. For a variety of reasons, we declined to see her file.

The second little girl - well, the second little girl...where to start, what to say?

She is approximately sixteen months old. She is walking, she is running. She is not talking, but, I'm not sure if that's too much to ask of a sixteen month old in an orphanage in the first place...she is described as having "a gentle way of smiling at visitors". The doctors describe her motor skills as "very good". (This is like an "extra comment" on the side of the medical exam - "child's motor skills are very good".)

She does have a medical problem (hence the reason her file came from "waiting child" and not from the standard Vietnam program. I have done about a mountain of research on this condition in the past six days.

I have requested more information from my agency about a few things in her file - Husband has asked me to get a few more pieces of information. I've sent the file to Dr. Jerri Jenista in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as she appears to be an expert regarding this little girl's condition.

There is a big part of me that feels very attached to this child. Husband does not yet feel the same way - previously we have been on the same page - so, I need to give him time to think about this...

That's all for now,
LM