September 1 evening
Family and friends, we are coming home on Sunday.
Our adoption journey was not successful, at least not this time. We've spent the past 24 hours struggling with profound sadness and loss because we did not find the right child in Kazakhstan.
The baby girl in the Rudniy orphanage touched our hearts in many ways. But our fears about her health were confirmed after consultation with our physician specialist at Texas Children's Hospital. She will have special needs well into adulthood, and we honestly did not feel we would be able to provide the proper care and environment for her needs, given our ages, occupations, and commitments to care for other relatives. We know there are adoptive parents who have prepared themselves for the demands of caring for these children, so we believe that her future will be assured with a different forever family.
While here, we were referred to three orphanages in the Kostanay region, which is the maximum allowable during one trip to Kazakhstan. We met some wonderful children in two of the three (we were shown only a photo of just one child in the Delphin house). However, the frustrating reality is that we were not introduced to any children that were close to our request expressed in our dossier, which was sent to the Kazakhstan government 6 months ago. As with the baby in Rudniy, we know there are families out there for the kids we met, but we just did not feel the match was right among those we were allowed to see and consider.
Today, we flew back to Almaty on the old Russian propeller plane and made it here fine. We are back in the Hotel Kaz-Zhol, a modern hotel where we stayed 2 weeks ago. We will stay here tonight, buy a few mementos of our trip tomorrow, then board the KLM flight Sunday morning for Amsterdam. After stops there and in Detroit, we are due back in Raleigh at 6:43PM Sunday, Sept. 3. We know that we will need some time to recuperate not only from the jet lag, but also from the difficult emotions that we are certain will follow once we get back home.
We want to express our thanks to our family and friends who followed our journey and offered their prayers and support. It meant more to us than you will ever know, especially as we dealt with the challenges we experienced along the way. We will always remember this important part of our trip.
A special thanks to Judy Coots and Melanie for the baby clothes, blankets, and toys you gave us. The orphanage director in Rudniy was very touched when we presented these gifts to her, because Rudniy is in a poor region and she has very limited resources.
Although things did not work out for us on this trip, we believe our lives have nonetheless been changed for the better. We met many people here who were kind and considerate to us, and made us feel safe and welcome.
Please keep us in your prayers as we make the long trip home.
Love, Don & LeAnne
Our adoption journey was not successful, at least not this time. We've spent the past 24 hours struggling with profound sadness and loss because we did not find the right child in Kazakhstan.
The baby girl in the Rudniy orphanage touched our hearts in many ways. But our fears about her health were confirmed after consultation with our physician specialist at Texas Children's Hospital. She will have special needs well into adulthood, and we honestly did not feel we would be able to provide the proper care and environment for her needs, given our ages, occupations, and commitments to care for other relatives. We know there are adoptive parents who have prepared themselves for the demands of caring for these children, so we believe that her future will be assured with a different forever family.
While here, we were referred to three orphanages in the Kostanay region, which is the maximum allowable during one trip to Kazakhstan. We met some wonderful children in two of the three (we were shown only a photo of just one child in the Delphin house). However, the frustrating reality is that we were not introduced to any children that were close to our request expressed in our dossier, which was sent to the Kazakhstan government 6 months ago. As with the baby in Rudniy, we know there are families out there for the kids we met, but we just did not feel the match was right among those we were allowed to see and consider.
Today, we flew back to Almaty on the old Russian propeller plane and made it here fine. We are back in the Hotel Kaz-Zhol, a modern hotel where we stayed 2 weeks ago. We will stay here tonight, buy a few mementos of our trip tomorrow, then board the KLM flight Sunday morning for Amsterdam. After stops there and in Detroit, we are due back in Raleigh at 6:43PM Sunday, Sept. 3. We know that we will need some time to recuperate not only from the jet lag, but also from the difficult emotions that we are certain will follow once we get back home.
We want to express our thanks to our family and friends who followed our journey and offered their prayers and support. It meant more to us than you will ever know, especially as we dealt with the challenges we experienced along the way. We will always remember this important part of our trip.
A special thanks to Judy Coots and Melanie for the baby clothes, blankets, and toys you gave us. The orphanage director in Rudniy was very touched when we presented these gifts to her, because Rudniy is in a poor region and she has very limited resources.
Although things did not work out for us on this trip, we believe our lives have nonetheless been changed for the better. We met many people here who were kind and considerate to us, and made us feel safe and welcome.
Please keep us in your prayers as we make the long trip home.
Love, Don & LeAnne
posted by Don Sharp | 10:50 AM
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