An Appeal for Lucy

So many people have called and emailed me wanting to help Lucy, so we've come up with a plan for those of you who want to help, but can't adopt her. We are running an appeal to raise money for the family that does adopt Lucy. We have a family that would like to adopt her if no one else steps forward who is already DTC. So Lucy will have a family and that's the good news! We would like to raise $3000 to help that family, since they will no doubt have many medical costs. If donations exceed that amount, it will go in our waiting child fund to be distributed to families who need help with adoption costs for waiting children like Lucy. The movement for Lucy has been bigger than I could've ever expected, so I'm hoping we can raise that $3000. If you want to contribute, you can either send a check to ASIA(215 SW Hooker St. #100 Portland, OR 97201) with "Lucy" written in the memo, or call ASIA with your credit card and tell us it's for the "Lucy Appeal." The phone number is: 503-224-1860

We've got to get this girl home as quickly as possible. So many doctors have reviewed her file and her outlook is not good, yet there is a family willing to proceed despite this fact if they can get their paperwork done. Some doctors are even thinking a possible lung transplant in addition to the possible heart transplant. We can only hope that isn't the case. She has touched so many hearts already, there must be a reason.

More Information about Hope Journey and Lucy

It sounds like our next Hope Journey camp will be in Shenzhen most likely and I will be one of the staff members going:-) That way I'll be able to give you my impressions of the children directly. In our last camp, 4 of the children were from Shenzhen and all 4 are being adopted:-)

April will be a busy month as we work to help families get their children home before they age out from the last camp and prepare for the next one as well.

On another note, we have several families seriously considering Lucy. If you can put your thoughts with Lucy this month, hopefully we will have good news from one of those families shortly! There is nothing that would make me happier than to be able to report that Lucy has a family....

Next Hope Journey Program

ASIA's next Hope Journey program will take place at the end of April in Guangdong Province again. That's all the details we have so far, but more to come:-) So before the end of April, let's get Lucy placed and the few other children we have left! We have videos of Samantha available and we have also posted some kids from the shared list on our password protected website. The password will change when the kids from the next Hope Journey program go up, so take a look now:-)
Marci

P.S. I'll update this blog as soon as I have any more information to share about the upcoming Hope Journey camp.

A Win For Adoptive Families in the U.S.!!!

I'm thrilled to report that the Adoption Tax Credit has been extended!!!!! It has also become refundable, so if you don't owe the Federal Government, then you can get the money as a refund! This should help many families overcome the financial burden of adoption. Hopefully that will help many more children and families unite!

ASIA Still has a private waiting child list for a little longer

I have had so many families contact me about adopting Lucy and I'm truly moved that so many are willing to help a child with such a serious condition. That brings me to another point while we continue to advocate for Lucy. ASIA still has several other children on our private waiting child list whose files will have to go back soon. Webster and Wesley, the twin 12 year old boys that want to go into public service jobs are still in need of a family. Niva, who has repaired cleft lip and palate and Hep B is still available. Samantha, Benji, Leo and Henry are all children left on our waiting child list. Not to mention the over 1500 children available on China's shared waiting child list currently. They all have sweet faces and are in need of families to help them reach their full potential. If you knew their stories and saw their pictures, like Lucy's, I'm sure many more of you would come forward. So if you're wanting to adopt a waiting child, contact me and see if one of these children could be the one meant for your family.

An Older Child Adoption Story

At the JCICS Conference a 22 year old boy spoke who had been through the foster care system in the U.S. His story was quite moving and I wanted to share a few of the points that made it so. Perhaps it will help those of you who are adopting older children to understand some of where they're coming from.

After living with his biological mother and younger brother until he was three years old, protecting his younger brother and caring for him, he and his brother were moved to a foster home. The foster parents were able to handle his well behaved younger brother, but not him, as he had taken the brunt of the abuse and acted out. His younger brother was adopted by the couple and he was bounced from home to home. Finally he was put in a home of a couple who wanted to adopt him. He still acted out, as he had been abandoned so many times he didn't believe they would keep him ultimately. His parents took the time to get to know him and find out what he really liked. One of his biggest interests was hockey. So when he would act out and need to express his feelings of pain from his past, his mom would put on hockey goalie pads and tell him to hit her until he felt better. Finally they got it across to him that no matter how "bad" he acted, they would not leave him. He is now 22 years old, has a college degree(after being told he would not even graduate from high school) , speaks around the country and is writing a book. So to those of you who may be struggling--stick with it! It will be hard, but it will change the child's life.

JCICS

I have been at the annual JCICS conference all week. It has been an inspiring day for many reasons. Ideas, expertise and stories were shared, faces were connected with "email faces" and many tears were shed over the inspiring life stories. A couple things really hit me hard today. One was the work that people in this community do, day and night for the children all over the world who need people to fight for them. As they live their lives struggling to survive, those of us over here have to fight to get them what they truly deserve.

I was also enlightened by Love Without Boundaries about the medical care that is truly not available for many of the kids with special needs in China. Many children are on the verge of losing their lives because their special needs can't be treated there. We have one such life in our hands...Lucy's. I have gotten so many emails from families interested in adopting her. I have sent out her file to those who qualify to think seriously about the decision. No one has yet committed to her. So many people are advocating for this little girl in so many different ways. Yet, we need a family to step up and commit to her and proceed with a leap of faith, not knowing the outcome. Lucy is strong now, but we don't know what her future holds. When we do have a family for her for sure, I will post and rejoice. Until then, I will keep asking you to help me in the search to provide a better future for this little girl. She at least deserves a family who can get her the love and treatment she needs. She's a bright, happy girl who will bring joy to a family for however long her life will be. We don't have time to waste in Lucy's case, so if a family comes forward that is not DTC yet, they will have to understand that we cannot hold this child for them, as she may not have that long to wait. We have to do what is in Lucy's best interest and we're trying hard to do that for her. I know that the right family must be out there and I'm hoping we have already found them. I'm hoping I will have good news to share with all of you soon.

The Movement for Lucy

I have to say I'm quite touched by the movement that has developed to help Lucy. So many wonderful people have called, emailed and offered to help her in many different ways. Just a few are considering being her forever family, but many, many want to help her in some way. She has touched the hearts of so many out there with her spirit and spunk. I hope that we can find the family out that that was meant for her. Most likely we need that family to already be in process for a child from China since Lucy has been waiting so long already. She is currently strong and needs to have her surgery before she loses that strength. There are many out there working to find Lucy pro bono health care and spreading the word to help find her family. To all of you--thank you! We hope to help Lucy before it's too late. She certainly seems to be a little survivor! We won't give up, Lucy!

Back to Lucy...

Now that we have found families for most of our Hope Journey kiddos, we really need help finding Lucy a family. This is our hardest placement and yet the most urgent. Lucy is a darling 3 year old girl, but she likely needs a heart transplant due to the severity of her defects. This means that she needs a family with excellent medical insurance as well as a family who can afford to pay for the medical costs beyond what the insurance will cover. She also needs a family that will love her, no matter how long she ends up being on this earth. That's asking a whole lot of a family, so it's understandable that we haven't found one yet. But Lucy is not just a child with a heart defect, she is a bright, happy, survivor who has made it this far and is growing and developing incredibly well. What more can I say about this sweet child?

Happy News!

Happy News has come to ASIA at a time when it was needed...both George and Gina have families in process pursuing them!!! We are very hopeful and optimistic that both will be home before their birthdays when they age out! Big thank you's go to all of you who have been fighting to help those waiting children!
Marci

Older Child Adoption

Here is another great article on older child adoption and why orphans have such a stigma in China: http://www.rainbowkids.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=698

Urgent for Lucy and Julia!!!!

Some of you may be familiar with little Lucy, the spunky survivor with a very serious heart condition that was on our waiting child list. Well, unfortunately, she is back on the list due to no fault of her own. She desperately needs a family that can commit to her despite the uncertainty of her future. She needs a forever family, no matter how long that forever is....we may need to bring her here on a medical visa if we can't find a dtc family for her, as she needs treatment for her heart condition. There are hospitals in the U.S. willing to help her, but not in China. Lucy is a very bright little girl who is very close to her Chinacare mama. You may notice she also has a limb difference, but this doesn't stop her! For more information and pictures and updates on her, please contact me or see our password protected website.

I'm thrilled to report that it looks like Julia's original family will be able to pursue her after all! So no plea for Julia, but we do now need to focus on finding Misty a family!

Please help us advocate for these two children...help their dreams come true! We just need to get them the familis they deserve.