Max's Baby Orphanage in Votkinsk, Russia
Byron and I have received many comments, questions and jokes this week. Some jokingly call to ask if we shipped Max off to Russia. Others want to know how we feel about this situation. We've been ask to speak out, speak up and sign a petition.
Today I read a letter from Martha Osborne of RainbowKids. She eloquently writes how I feel.
"Sad, sad news over the last week. There has been great outrage, anger, blame and finger pointing over the disrupted adoption of a 7-year-old Russian child and his abrupt return to Russia over this last week. Today it has been announced that Russia will suspend adoptions to the USA. During this time, I have wondered, "where is the outrage for the thousands of children who are housed in hopeless institutions with minimal care and daily abuse from the other children?"
The exact conditions that may have traumatized this young child and greatly contributed to this situation, are barely mentioned. No one absolves the mother.She had options and chose to do something outrageous and selfish. But her actions are only one part of this. The unspoken rule is that those of us who work to find homes for these children must never, never criticize the governments that allow these wretched institutions to continue. Adoptive parents must be grateful...and silent, to insure that international adoption continues, and a few lucky children find peace in a family of their own. Volunteers must quietly work to make changes in the orphanages, for fear of offending those in power. Yes, this story makes me very upset, and sad for all of the children who will now continue to suffer. And for the families who have waited, longingly, to give their love to these children.
And now we wait, with our only hope once again in the hands of government policy makers. I suggest that the meeting scheduled for the 20th take place in the largest, most rural orphanage that can be found in Russia. Let our governments meet, and come to their decision, surrounded by the children's lives and futures that hang in the balance."
You can read our Russian Adoption Journal here.
XOXO-
5 comments:
Thank you for posting this. My heart has been breaking over this story and the thousands of children waiting for their families, and for the families waiting for their sons and daughters. I am so blessed to have a family filled with adoption (my mother, uncle, brother, paternal grandfather, and mother-in-law), I hope to be able to build our family through adoption in the future as well. I am keeping this situation and everyone it touches in my prayers.
Oh my gosh....
I can't imagine how you feel.
What an amazing thing to adopt a child let alone from a completely different country.
I have several friends who adopted from overseas and I can't imagine how they feel with this being in the forefront of the news.
Thank you for sharing your story!
Thank you for posting this - my prayers and thoughts go out to all those children waiting for a family -
yes I was adopted too - so I have always been drawn to your blog - since reading your adoption journal last year.
You are amazing for opening your home to a little one -
give Max a hug from Florida
Here, here! VERY WELL PUT!!!!
Thank you so very very much for sharing this. My heart has been hurting so deeply... I pray that somehow; someway good can come from this tragic and horrifying event. If anything-- I hope that this will open the eyes of the world to what children in orphanages endure.
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