We had known for some time that we wanted to adopt a child. It was very clear to us—somewhere in the world a child was meant to be our son or our daughter. We were looking for a child that no one else wanted, for millions of children worldwide are not adopted because of age or medical conditions and our hearts lay with these orphans. These precious ones are known as Waiting Children.During the four and half months of dossier preparation, a new list of Waiting Children of China was made available. We were drawn to Aliana, a 2 year old girl born without a right eye. She had been abandoned two days after birth, taken to an orphanage, and at 3 months of age transferred into foster care. No other prospective parents were reviewing her. Our excitement peaked!
We asked our pediatrician to evaluate her medical file. He cautioned, it was not uncommon when one or both eyes are damaged in utero for the brain to also be affected. This little girl could slide anywhere down the scale—she could be perfectly normal or developmentally disabled. Our doctor’s comments definitely brought us back to reality.
The medical information from China was insufficient to make a conclusion one way or the other. We were scared of the unknown and questions plagued us: What if she was mentally retarded or unable to live independently? Did the other eye have good vision? What was the long-term prognosis for her sight? Was she really meant to be our daughter?
We asked God for guidance and received an indisputable sign. I opened my Bible, after a day of fasting and praying, and my eyes immediately fell on a passage, Matthew 8:19-20 which begins, “It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into darkness. Do not look down on one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels look at them and continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” Well, I guess that took care of that—there was our sign!
We agreed to adopt Aliana. Although our fears were not laid to rest, we decided we did not need to be sure of our knowledge, but only of our purpose.
Nine months and five days after we submitted our initial application, we met our little girl. All our fears disappeared. I know every adoptive parent says this, but it is true—it was just obvious she was meant to be our daughter.
We had been afraid of the unknown. Once you are looking at a living breathing person, the abstracts go away; instead of a possible condition you see a child.
Now we are home. Aliana is a funny, loving, smart, stubborn, snuggly, and bouncy sweetheart of a girl. Her foster family did a wonderful job preparing her for the transition to her forever family. She has bonded beautifully with my husband and I, is imitating both the obedient and the mischievous actions of her siblings, and initiates play with all of us.
Aliana is an integral part of our family. We can't imagine having any other child in her place. Although, she will have ongoing medical issues with her missing eye, we will deal with those. We realize now, one never knows what will happen in any child’s future with certainty and that gives us peace.
--Velleta Scott, AR
The Scott’s intend to adopt another wonderful Waiting Child in perhaps 2 years (Velleta’s husband says 3). The Scott family includes two biological children Dorinda and Callista, ages 4 and 2 respectively. What can you as a family handle? In the next Children’s Hope International newsletter, lay aside your fears as you read about more family victories over medical issues.
