In the United States when a child is born with a disability and is not wanted by their own parents, the child is sent to a foster home where the family is given training on how to care for the child. There are strict requirements and the children are generally well cared for.
In other countries, Haiti, Turkey and Ukraine, for example, many times when a child is born with a disability (sometimes even a minor defect such as stunted growth to an extremity) the parents are counseled to institutionalize the child, often being told that they will not be able to care for the child, or that the child will die regardless of care.
Those disabled children are then sent to orphanages where they will live until their 4th birthday. Their life has then become a race against the clock to be adopted before that 4th birthday, for once they are four they are sent to live out the remainder of their bleak existence in a mental institution. Once there, they will be relegated to a metal crib where most of their time is spent. They do not go outside, they do not play, they are rarely, if ever, given a hug or comforted in any way. Many times their only human contact comes when a worker is forced to change their urine and feces soaked sheets. They are tied to their cribs or bound in straight-jackets fastened from sheets to keep them from injuring themselves out of boredom or frustration.
This crib is not temporary until they outgrow it, they live in this crib until they die. Many times they are denied basic nutrition or water simply by neglect. The workers are few and the children and needs are many. The most important fact here is that these children are human beings.
Reece’s Rainbow, begun by parents of a Down Syndrome boy, is one organization that helps to free these children, specifically Down Syndrome and other special needs kids in other countries, by providing funding to families willing to open their arms and hearts to adopt one of them. They work from donations to help provide grants to adoptive families as often times the costs to bring the children home is exorbitant.
One family, dear friends of mine – the Parkers, are adopting not just one, but two beautiful baby girls with Down Syndrome from The Ukraine through Reece’s Rainbow. They are not strangers to special needs children, and have big hearts and wide open arms waiting for these babies. They will have no trouble caring for them once they are home, but the real hurdle is in getting them here. Even though there is some help available for the adoption and transport of the girls, much of the burden falls to the adoptive family to raise the funds.
Here is part of Kate Parker’s story on why they are adopting:
As the mother of several children with special needs, I was very disturbed by the realization that children in eastern Europe who are born with disabilities are not welcome in society and ultimately, if they are not adopted, they get transferred to mental institutions.
My husband & I looked into adopting through the foster care system, but inquiries about several children were met with closed doors… A short time later, another online friend announced she was adopting a girl with Down syndrome from Ukraine. She introduced me to Reece’s Rainbow (www.reecesrainbow.org), a fantastic organization that facilitates the adoption of orphans with special needs. My family felt led by God to commit to two little girls who both have Down syndrome & other medical conditions and we began the adoption process to adopt internationally.
Adopting privately or internationally is incredibly expensive – the cost in eastern Europe average $24,000 for one child. Most families who choose to adopt an orphan with special needs do not have that kind of money laying around and thus must rely on grants, loans & donations to raise the funds necessary to rescue their child(ren) from orphanages & mental institutions.
I think that when people hear the term “adoption,” they picture a family deciding they want a(nother) child and that’s it. They do not realize that for many children, adoption is a matter of life or death. Literally. If the orphans who have special needs in eastern Europe do not get adopted, they get moved to a mental institution… an insane asylum… and they spend the rest of their life in a crib. For orphans with special needs, this is a death sentence because they will not get medical care when they are in a mental institution, and with inadequate food & inadequate interaction with other human beings, they don’t often have a long life after being transferred.
The Parker’s full adoption story can be found at Room for More and their fund at Reece’s Rainbow is here: Sponsor Parker’s
For more information on adopting special needs kids from other countries, or to donate to the Parkers or any other adoptive family, please visit Reece’s Rainbow.
Source: Anne Coleman
