So here we go again 2 weeks later. I have contacted some adoption agencies in the US and yes the little man whose photo drew me in has been matched. I have emailed asking that my message be passed on to his new family if they have the connections but I don't think they do.
There is an organisation in the USA "NOAH" (National Organisation for Albinism and Hypopigmentation) who have a conference every two years. My husband and I ventured over for the 2010 conference and he hopes to go to 2012. I wonder if we do that this little man's family will take him along to make friends? Hmm..
As I wrote in my last post it's been suggested I visit orphanages. Meh, maybe. I've put out feelers and two have said "yes come" but I'm not sure it's where I'm meant to be. It doesn't sit in my heart the way adoption did. It just felt right, this doesn't. I'm happy to pursue it though. One travel organisation do group holiday tours to China with an orphanage visit tied in, which satisfies two needs, but even so it doesn't capture me totally. I'm not at all sure it's right.
My husband and I attended the first information session for potential adoptive parents within a few days of my last post. It was "interesting" said he. I didn't really learn new information except that Taiwan has opened as an adoptive country. We were the oldest couple there, which I found amusing. When the talk about special needs came up I perked up and joined in the conversation, adding "the age limit parameters change" which I think explained to the younger couples why we were in attendance. My husband says he's still not the right person to "do this", and that's fine, it's all in God's hands and he has certainly surprised us before.
The questions some of the attendees asked made me think I need to write an information sheet or something. :) Things like "do they do genetic testing on the children so you have knowledge of anything they might have?" and "What about if you adopt a child who isn't as healthy as they say?
I wanted to stand on my chair and say "Life is like that!!" I imagine these people may have struggled with infertility and other griefs and struggles, but every pregnant couple goes through the "what about genetics" issue. Did great grandad have a heart attack? Doesn't your cousin have a child with....
There are no guarantees with biological children either. It's hit and miss.
Take my own genetic condition of albinism. One in every 70 - 75 people carries the gene for albinism (I know.. who knew, right?)
However because it's recessive, it requires the other party to also carry the albinsm gene. Even then, every child that couple has has a 1 in 4 chance of having albinism. So if for three generations there have only been two maybe three children in each family, it can have skipped those generations, then appear in a baby and everyone is stunned - "where did it come from"?
Albinism of course would be pretty evident from birth, as the hair and skin have no little or pigment and the child will possibly have nystagmus (wobbly eyes) but some genetic conditions take years to show.
And just because you're paying the governmentfor a child doesn't guarantee you anything, just a child. And you will love adore and lay your life down for that child regardless of anything, once you have them in your arms. Trust me on that.
So getting back to the original thought behind this post, if you happen to hear of a family adopting a little boy with albinsm who is about 6 and a half years old, he may be the child I'm thinking of. I don't want contact, I have no right to ask, I just want his new parents to know he was upheld during the time they were waiting for him.
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