SPECIAL NEEDS --- REALLY?

We have been spoiled by a WONDERFUL little boy named Luke who we adopted from Guatemala (Gotcha Date July 26, 2007).  To say that this child has touched each one of our family members and friends would be a complete and total understatement.  He amazes us each and every day and I will share many of the LUKE-isms for another time.  With such a wonderful lil' fella how could we A-- want another child and B-- CONSIDER adopting a child who would possibly not be as perfect as our Luke?  Sounds harsh right?  Well, it is kind of misunderstood.  First off we are blessed with a family and extended family that show us each day what unconditional love is.  We caught our family off guard when we let them know about our news of a second adoption.  We came home with Luke in 2007 and like many other JUST ADOPTED families found ourselves pregnant.  I made it to twelve weeks and then lost the baby.  Sad yes, but for reasons that I have and never will question, it was the way it was.  I don't know who your higher power may be and that is fine but ours is God and we believe in him and in his ways of work. It simply was not meant to be.  The heartache was masked somewhat by the wonderful lil' boy that we had just brought home three months earlier which was nice considering the prior heartaches we had been through with having our own child(ren), infertility, the loss of referrals and loosing Luke's twin sister (this will be a later blog).

Fast Forward from 2007 to 2010 and after almost three years of having countless hugs and love from our precious Lil' Luke our family was not sure of our decision to adopt in this SPECIAL NEEDS category.  There were timing issues, our age, our lifestyle and all sorts of things that were RIGHTFULLY great concerns but the one thing that was overlooked was the fact that we wanted another child and wanted Luke to have a sibling not to mention that we feel that we have pretty big hearts.  Yes it takes more than a big heart to deal with some of the special needs but our attitude was this and always will be:  "If we can adopt a child who has a special need and can give him or her a better life than what they would have had then we will do it".   Our seemingly picture perfect life can be burdened by doctor visits, casts, surgeries, therapy or whatever the need would bring to us.  Quite simple outlook we felt and still do.  We educated ourselves and chose our daughter very carefully.  We did  so with ALOT and I mean  ALOT of medical advice.   We know how important family is for children and didn't want to do anything to make our daughter's experience less than the wonderful one that Luke had received so far.  Open hearts is not something that is hard for our family.  Our daughter is not of the "SPECIAL NEED"  that will totally uproot our family.  (We have an utmost respect for those who adopt children or babies who will need 24 hour care for the rest of their lives).   David and I know our limitations in caring for others and know where the boundaries fall.  This may sound selfish on our part and it is not meant that way at all.  It is simply a fact. A big check on the list was what tender-hearted David would be able to handle in regards to the actual "NEED".  As big as his heart is it is incredibly tender especially towards children.  We knew the limits and stayed within them.  We also considered Luke and how it would affect him as well as how it would affect our extended family.  Now we wait and we carry our torch for ridding as many people as we can of the "STIGMA" of Special Needs adoption.  Special Needs may not be for you and we do not judge you if this is the case, however, spreading the word about the many special needs children might be something that would work for you.