"Really Cara? Another kiddo with special needs?" "How are you going to manage?" Some wonder if I'm crazy. Others, that know me well, know I'm crazy in love with my two girls--despite their special needs. Here in America, they are given a chance to thrive...a chance to live...a chance to survive.
Today while reading my favorite blogs, one person posted about a family that just brought their adopted 3 year old daughter home from an Eastern European country. This little one is three years old and has Down Syndrome. For weeks, her new family visited her daily, all bundled in layers of clothing (which is typical for the country). The family knew she was little, but when they took her from the orphanage and that precious little one was in their care, they saw just how tiny their new daughter was.
Eleven pounds. At three years of age.
Special needs children in Eastern Europe are NOT valued. Especially children with Down Syndrome. They are set aside. They are allowed to waste away. They are denied homes and families.
A family this week went to court in an E.E. country and and the judge told the parents that she would not allow them to become the boy's parents. She did not believe that a child with Down Syndrome should be prat of family. She felt his proper place was in an institution.
Things like this make my heart hurt. I can't imagine someone telling my parents that my sister Amy didn't deserve a family. She didn't deserve a chance. She was better off laying in a bed, wasting away to nothing. And yet, in some countries, this is the grim reality of children with special needs.
Yes, I know there may be days ahead that are challenging with three kiddos with special needs. Days with two kiddos with special needs can be a challenge. There is no doubt in my mind that the days filled with love and laughter will outweigh the challenging ones. I'm crazy...crazy enough to think that ALL children deserve a chance to live and thrive...to have a chance at a family that will love them forever!
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