Q and A

Question : Why not adopt AMERICAN children?

Answer : We are/were open to that. We submitted our home study on several children in the US. Things are different here in the US. The abortion rate for babies with ds in the US is staggering... and very sad. The children who are allowed to be born are usually wanted.(YAY) The ones who do get into the foster care system are usually snapped up fairly quickly (YaY again!) In other countries this is not the case. Genetic testing in other countries is not standard and there are A LOT of children born with ds and other conditions. Conditions that are treatable in the US. These children are put into orphanages and mental institutions and they do not get first rate medical care. They do not get the love of a family. They do not get the opportunity to be all they can be. Doctors in other countries don't even know how to medically treat common conditions associated with ds because they are not taught how to treat them. Families are STRONGLY discouraged from keeping and raising these children because there are no services for them. "Put them away and tell your family they died..." So should we ignore those children who need families because they were not born in the US? Reminder: They ARE still CHILDREN! God still loves and cares about them...

side note** Reeces Rainbow has a side shoot ministry called Connecting the Rainbow to address the problem of families not getting any support or services when they want to keep their disabled children... Go to the RR web site and look for the link**

Question : What if these children have "issues".

Answer : um I have issues. Mike has issues and our children have issues and **NEWSFLASH** YOU have issues. We expect challenges and we are preparing for known challenges and for many challenges common to post institutionalized children. We will deal with each challenge as it comes and God is not going anywhere! He brought us down this path he intends to walk it with us.

Question: What if one of you (parents) or both die? Who gets stuck with these kids?

Answer : your attitude is showing... IF and in the unlikely event that Mike or I or both of us die we are setting up a special needs trust to provide for the ongoing care of the children. (this is a whole other post) But we are putting things in place for this.

Question : Will this hurt your other children. Will they have less and be burdened with disabled siblings?

Answer : Having more than one child means that each child may get less in terms of material possessions. We already passed that mark long ago. Having sibs with disabilities will undoubtedly give our children more responsibility. They will have to learn to help meet some of their sibs needs and we will need to teach and model safety, compassion and patience. But since when are those things negative? I have noticed that MANY adults with siblings with disabilities go into the health care field. Studies show that these typical siblings usually grow into well rounded people with caring giving hearts. And what about the joy that having sibs (with or without disabilities) will bring them?

Question : Wont this be hard?

Answer : As compared to what? There is a GRACE for this. I don't think this life is for everyone. This is what GOD has asked of US. God gives us the desires of our hearts and GOD gave us this desire and he will never leave us or forsake us. Being in GOD's perfect will is assurance enough that it will not be TOO hard for us.

Question : Well, is this it? Are you done after these two?

Answer : I think so, maybe? If you REALLY want to know, you have to ask GOD because he is driving this boat. I have and continue to pray for any and all children God has for us. We really believe Jesus is coming soon (have you watched the news and compared that with the Bible?) and we may not have time to adopt more. This has taken us YEARS! But God has it all under control. One thing we DO know FOR SURE is that we will continue to advocate for all children! Orphans and disabled alike. We WILL use our voices and bodies to make life easier and better for any that we can.