Try to imagine this scene…
You have been filling out papers until your wrists hurt, having fingerprints taken, reading books about adoption, about the country where you hope to be traveling soon…to bring your child home. Perhaps you have had to go through a list of diagnoses and check off “yes,” “no,” or “maybe.” You may have started 6 months ago or you may started 6 years ago. Either way, you are nervous, anxious, excited all at the same time.
Late one night, you receive a call from your agency saying they have a child for you to consider. You rush to your computer to open the email with this child’s file. You can feel your heart beating in your chest. In the email, you see the child’s picture first—and you pause--and then you find a lot of information—some personal and some medical. What’s there is scant and you don’t know what it all means anyway.
And, there you sit…quiet…wondering if this is your child.
Perhaps you start searching online for information, looking for families who have parented children with the same type of story. You are seeking answers…an answer. Is this your child.
You know you need to have this file reviewed by someone who can make sense of it. Maybe you realize that your general practitioners can’t tell you too much given the information you have; they aren't experienced with looking at files like this. Maybe your physicians don’t recognize the time pressure involved and wouldn’t return your call anyway. Or, maybe you recognize that a 15-minute phone conversation with their opinion is just not enough support.
Someone online tells you about a program for adoptive families—a doctor specializing in adoptive medicine will review the child’s file, they will offer you pretravel support, in-country support (even through skype if needed), and postadoption support and advice. This is exactly what you need.
But this program is not cheap. And, you have spent so much already and are saving as much as you can just to pay the upcoming expenses once you accept a referral. You need these services; but, you any expense not required right now cannot be justified.
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On January 18, 2010, we saw our daughter’s face for the first time. We had joined a program like this early on and were able to benefit from the full-range of their services. They helped us understand every detail of information we were given about the child who became our daughter. They helped prepare us for travel. They worked with us when we were in China and our daughter was sick. And, they have offered us ongoing support for the year since we’ve been home.
And, that has been invaluable to us and played a major role in the founding of
The Sparrow Fund as we sought to answer the call to actively support preadoptive and adoptive families.
The Sparrow Fund, just launched in April, is committed to supporting adoptive families by providing grants for this purpose—grants to pay for preadoption counseling and support, medical reviews of the file of the child they are referred, and postadoption support as their child becomes part of their family.
We want families to have the most support possible so that the adoption experience goes as smoothly as possible for the family and the child becoming part of their family.
The Sparrow Fund needs your help – (1) Give families who may benefit from these program the information. Let them know we’re here and want to work with them. (2) Support
The Sparrow Fund via a private donation on their site or through a unique opportunity this month.
A big Thank You to guest blogger Kelly Raudenbush for this post and the awesome work she (and her family) are doing for orphans and adoptive families! Check out
how The Sparrow Fund "hatched", like her on FaceBook...and be sure to go buy something extra fabulous for your little chickadees.
Much love, L
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