Stories About Amity Foster Care From Adoptive Parents


		The five babies in our group had made the two+ hour trip by car and when they arrived, they were all crying and fussing and then we spotted JingJing, carried by the director. She was carefully dressed in socks, shoes (she was the only one) and a matching two piece pink outfit. I don't suppose we will ever forget the distress that JingJing showed when she was put in my arms or the following two days of wails that we all endured.

	She was clearly shattered to be taken away and uprooted one more time. Slowly but surely, however, she began to allow us to start to care for and love her. And much like a flower, each day a new petal unfolded for us to see our newest daughter's personality. On all fronts, she was developmentally on target. Her weight was good, she ate well, slept well and was physically robust. Even the orphanage director complained to us that she was "crawling" and "pulling to stand" and "getting into everything!" None of the other four babies, even though they were close in age, had been in foster care and were at very different developmental levels, i.e., two of the babies were not yet crawling and one could not sit up. We felt certain that JingJing's motor skills could be attributed to her care and her emotional distress was certainly bittersweet for us. We've been home almost six months and JingJing now squeals with delight when she sees us. We hear lots of "Up! Up!" to be held and she loves nestling into our arms for hugs and kisses and stories. In our hearts, we feel sure that the care she received in the foster program has made a big difference in her emotional and physical development and we are confirmed believers in the many benefits of foster care. Peggy Gurrad Top


	RAP was found abandoned on October 15, 2003 and, based on her condition, a birth date of August 13, 2003 seemed reasonable. This little girl was not just your average abandoned little girl. Rather, An Ping had a very serious medical problem. A problem that we guess led the parents to leave her where she might have a chance at life. A place where she might receive the surgery she would most definitely need. And a place where she might find a family who could care for her medical needs. RAP, on examination, was found to have a condition the Chinese called “congenital closed anus,” and we Americans refer to as “imperforated anus or anal atresia. What this means is that this precious little girl did not have an anus. She did have what is called a “fistula,” or a narrow opening through which waste could flow from the body. This fistula appeared to be the only opening on her bottom. From the orphanage records it was determined that “she would be very difficult to raise, especially in a group feeding arrangement. Therefore she was sent to a foster home. All written records indicate that RAP not only did well, but also thrived, with her foster family. This family, we later learned, included a husband and wife, RAP, and two older foster children, one with downs syndrome and one with cerebral palsy. What a family this must have been.

		The story doesn’t end there, though; with us falling in love with this little girl on the special needs list and bringing her home. No, the story has only begun and we marvel that Hana, as we now call her, is alive and doing well. In fact, when we brought her home and our surgeon prepared to examine her, his first request was, “Let me see her colostomy.” Our answer? She has no colostomy. In fact, she had never had surgery. He was visibly shocked at this revelation, and this shock increased when he examined her.

	Not only did Hana not have an anus, which occurs in about 1 in 4,000 births, but she had what he called a cloaca, a 1 in 20,000 occurrence, and which means that her urine and feces were flowing from the same fistula. Further, he said that these children typically have a colostomy within 48 hours of birth if they are to survive. Well, Hana was 16 months old, alive and well, and no evidence of chronic kidney or urinary tract infections, which, at a minimum, should have be present. Our surgeon went on to say that he recommended that we take her to the surgeon, considered one of the best in the world in performing these surgeries, to give her the best chance of a normal life. Dr. Alberto Pena, located at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park, NY, was a long way from our home in the southwestern United States. However, we didn’t hesitate. We were going to New York. We found Dr. Pena was booked up prior to his relocation to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and we’d probably have to wait. However, one day we received a call asking us if we could be in New York the following Thursday. We were on our way, all six of us, for Hana’s surgery. When Dr. Pena examined Hana he commented to the attending radiologist that she’d “never see another little girl like this. One who had had no surgery, was alive and well, and with no history of infections. This little girl was a miracle.” Well, after 7 ½ hours of surgery and 11 days in a hospital, Hana was totally re-plumbed. She actually required the building of an anus, vagina, and urethra – all missing. We were told that she has an 85% chance of normal bowel and bladder control. Further, we ruled out heart and kidney problems, common with children with this type of defect. We have discovered Hana does have an additional problem that we are in the process of scheduling to be corrected, called a tethered spinal cord. After this second surgery, Hana should have a normal, healthy, happy life. How do we explain why Hana’s alive and doing so well? Well, our answer to that question is two-fold: First, our personal beliefs are that God has had His hand on Hana throughout her short life and has protected her. And second, the care she received from the foster family, and at the orphanage, saved her. They cared for her, fed her, and somehow were able to keep her system, as impaired as it was, working. The doctors can’t explain why Hana’s alive. They can’t explain why she’s so healthy. This is truly a testimony to God’s grace and to the loving care she had to have received from the foster family and orphanage. I add the word “loving,” here, because I feel that for Hana to do so well could have not been merely due to being “cared for.” No, she had to have been loved. Also, we have been asked by several social workers if we have experienced any attachment problems with Hana. We can honestly say that from the moment we received Hana, at the Civil Affairs Building in Nanchang, we have completely bonded with her and she with us. She is as attached to her dad as she is to her mom. She also loves her two brothers and sister and they her. A child can only “attach to” and “love” others if they have been loved. Hana was loved. And by whom? Her foster family. What a blessing a foster family is to these children. For Hana, we believe it made the difference between life and death. That’s a pretty big difference for one little girl. Heather Allen
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		Finding out that our little girl was in foster care came as quite a surprise for us. We had contacted Peggy Gurrad to ask about taking donations to her orphanage and were surprised when she quickly replied by e-mail that our little girl was on the Amity foster care list. Not only did we learn more than we ever dreamed about her care, but Peggy then emailed us a photo of JingJing with her foster mother. It brought tears to my eyes because here was this wonderful, smiling woman holding our new daughter. There was clearly love and pride and happiness on this woman's face...


	When we traveled to China to meet JingJing, we were not able to meet the foster mother because of the distance to the orphanage from Nanchang. We also learned that there was a customary two-month-before-adoption-return to the orphanage for all the babies. On the day we met JingJing (then 11 months), we were very unsure what to expect since our older daughter had spent her first 20 months in an orphanage.