Category: Advocacy

Meet Victoria.  Victoria is smart.  Very smart.  She has earned numerous awards and accolades in school.  She loves to dance.  And she loves to help care for the children in the orphanage.  The children look up to Victoria, as they would a mother.  They listen to her.  They respect her.  They love her, and she them.  Victoria has a deep love for her orphanage family.  And while that love is strong, she still feels a burning desire to be a part of a proper family. 

Day in and day out, Victoria puts her all into everything she does – into her studies, into her English learning, into her dancing, and into her nurturing.  She gives and gives and gives of herself.  It is about time she is the one receiving – the one receiving  a mother’s love, a mother’s nurturing, a mother’s praise, and a mother’s encouragement.

Victoria will age out in April 2017, ending her chances of being a daughter forever.

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For more information about Victoria, please visit our website at www.madisonadoption.org, or email Sarah@madisonadoption.org.  The family that commits to adopting Victoria is eligible to receive $2,000 in grants through Madison Adoption Associates.

Nov 1,ECG: nodal tachycardia Oct 26,chest X-ray: lung marking of both lung was obvious Sep 14, gastroscope: 1.upper gastrointestinal bleeding,2.mucosa of the end of stomach eminence, varicose veins of the end of stomach3.HP negative Sep 12 ,upper gastrointestinal barium meal:no obvious varicose vein was found for the stomach and esophagus, Sep 9,UCG: hepatomegaly,damage of liver.Spleen and kidney was normal.no obvious engorged  lymph node was found in abdomen cavity, abdominal dropsy(-) Sep 9,chest x-ray:lung marks was a bit obvious.

Have I lost you yet?  I’m definitely lost.  Lost in trying to figure out how this jumbling of medical terminology describes Linus.  I mean, what on earth is ˜mucosa of the end of stomach eminence’?  Of course I can ask a doctor.  I can delve into his medical history (and I will if considering his adoption) to gain a better understanding of his physical well-being.  But that would be a disservice to him if I stopped there, as it would only be telling me such a minuscule part of what makes Linus Linus.  Linus is so much more than this cacophony of medical terms.  He is so much more than MALE, DOB 8/10/2004, HEPATOMEGALY.

Let me tell you a little bit about Linus.  Linus is a lover of the arts.  He is a performer, an actor, and an artist.  Check him out on stage, putting on a show (he’s on the left)!  Linus enjoys performing, and is eager to explore different avenues of artistic expression.

Linus also loves to draw, and is quite good at it!  What is this drawing of Linus?  Is this a picture of a distant memory you have of your childhood before you lost all that was familiar?  Or, is this a current dream of yours?  A home to call your own and a sister to pick flowers with as the happy sun shines down on you both?  Either way, I see happiness, I see optimism, I see Linus’ heart, in this drawing.  I see so much more than MALE, DOB 8/10/2004, HEPATOMEGALY.

Linus is an artist.  He is an actor.  He is talented.  He is a good listener.  He is so much more than MALE, DOB 8/10/2004, HEPATOMEGALY.  So, of course, ask your doctor what hepatomegaly is.  But, more importantly, ask yourself why not.  Why not bring this budding artist into your family and allow him to flourish in the home of his dreams?

Linus is available for adoption through Madison Adoption Associates.  There is a $5,000 Bright Futures Grant available for the family who adopts Linus.  Please email Sarah at sarah@madisonadoption.org, or visit our website at www.madisonadoption.org, for more information about Linus.

He turned 5 this past summer.  How did I miss it?  Of course, he was doted on, it was celebrated, there was a party with friends, and gifts, and cake, but yet, I still missed it.  I was there.  I was fully present for my son.  What I am referring to is how I missed the significance of this milestone¦.of this particular age.  You see, as an adoption social worker, it is well known that children 5 and older are significantly less likely to be adopted than their younger counterparts.  Especially boys.  While I have often internally compared my babies to the babies from China that I work hard to find families for, they were still just that¦..babies.  But the fact is, babies find homes.  Babies get families.  Babies are chosen and wanted. 

Kids, not as much.

So, here I sit, once again, thinking of my Murphy, as if he were one of those waiting in a Chinese orphanage.  I used to picture him in a crib.  But, now that I realize the significance of his age, he would have been better off in a crib.  In a crib, he would have had a better chance of being chosen.  Now, now that he is over 5, with a ˜defective’ heart that may need prolonged medical treatment, he would wait.  Possibly forever.  With no family to step forward for him.

I think of Murphy.  I think of Murphy, and I find solace in knowing that he is not living in those shoes.  But that doesn’t erase the thoughts.  The thoughts of a 5-year-old boy, with a ˜bad’ heart, living in an orphanage, waiting.  Makes me immediately think of Austin.  Austin.  Has a heart condition.  Murphy.  Has a heart condition.  Austin.  Has a ready smile.  Murphy.  Has a ready smile.  Austin.  Extroverted.  Murphy.  Extroverted.  Austin.  Loves cartoons.  Murphy.  Loves cartoons.  2 boys.  2 boys with so many similarities.  2 boys born into completely different circumstances.  But 2 boys nonetheless.

Austin is my Murphy in another body.  He is not a diagnosis.  He is not an age.  Austin is an amazing, joyful, hyper, sweet, snotty, sassy, shy, loving, naughty, obedient, sometimes disobedient, feisty, sensitive, active, creative, little boy, whose odds of being ˜chosen’ went down immensely when he turned 5 this past February.  Don’t let him be a statistic.  Give him the family he so deserves. 

Austin is eligible for a $5,000 Bright Futures Grant through Madison Adoption Associates.  Please contact Sarah at sarah@madisonadoption.org for more information, or visit us on our website at www.madisonadoption.org.

Meet Wayne.  Wayne is 12 years old and is deaf.  He has been living in an orphanage for 10 years.  He has been deaf since birth (at least we think¦.as he was found deaf at the age of one and a half).  Meet Charlie, Pete, Tom, and David Wayne’s best friends who have also been in the orphanage for the past 10 years, give or take.  These five are joined at the hip.  They have been through it all together loss, grief, the unknown, the familiar you name it, they’ve lived it with each other.

When the boys were old enough to realize that Wayne couldn’t hear, they all desired to be able to communicate with him.  Here is where this story goes from ordinary, to extraordinary and inspiring.  While Wayne was learning sign language, the other four boys took it upon themselves to learn as well, so as to ensure that Wayne never felt left out.  They studied, they watched, and they practiced.  This wasn’t required of them, or asked of them.  They are children.  They are boys.  They are orphans.  But in this situation, they did not, and do not, see themselves as anything other than Wayne’s best friends.  They love Wayne, they noticed what Wayne needed, and they provided.  These boys, who have their own special needs, who have their own desires for a family, who have their own trauma and loss, saw their friend in need, and acted, no questions asked.

Each one of these boys taught themselves sign language for their best friend.  These boys, who have so little, only witnessed their friend, who had even less than them, and they stepped up.  What have you done for your best friend?

All five of these boys are available for adoption though Madison Adoption Associates.  They range in age from 10-13, with varying special needs¦all at risk of aging out.  Our Associate Director recently met up with these young men, and could only describe them as amazing, unbelievable, inspiring, soft-spoken, and absolutely perfect.  Let’s show these boys that humanity is as good and pure as they are, and bring them home to the families that they so deserve.  We could all learn a lesson of selflessness from Wayne, Pete, Charlie, Tom, and David. 

Pete, Tom, and Wayne all have a Bright Futures grant of $5,000 towards their adoption.

Due to David and Charlie’s ages, all agency fees are waived for their families.

Please contact Sarah at sarah@madisonadoption.org for more information, or visit us at our website at http://www.madisonadoption.org