Our Story
We adopted Saya from Kazakhstan at the age of one. Saya suffered from malnutrition when we adopted her. She also has bilateral radial club hands and no thumbs. She has had one hand surgically corrected including turning her index finger into a thumb.
The orphanage appeared good. All the children were eerily quiet and sad. There were toys, but all were up on display shelves. The workers were nice but would not let us see the rooms of where the children lived. They appeared to be provided for, but as I already mentioned, she was diagnosed with malnutrition upon arrival at home.
When we finally met Saya, I was overjoyed and relieved. Adoption from Kazakhstan is so risky, and we had sunk everything we had into this adoption and were always worried we would lose her. When we did meet her she was even more beautiful than her pictures.
At first she wanted nothing to do with us. For two entire weeks she would not even react to us, nor make eye contact with us. Everyday we would visit with her. Finally after two weeks she gave us a half smile and pushed the ball with her pinky, a break through.
When we went on our first trip, Saya's orphanage was closed and we had to re-file her paperwork in a different court district. It added one week to the process and many worries about where she would end up. The trip was much longer than we had anticipated, 3 weeks turned into 4 weeks with a second trip that lasted one week. Our time was enjoyable, although it was far too long to be separated from our other children. Alamaty was a fascinating, beautiful city.
Saya has had no problems at all since she has been home. Our other children loved her immediately, and after she figured out they were her friends, not competitors she loved them back. She picked up English quickly, slept thru the night during her first week at home. An easy baby!
She is doing wonderful; she is just part of the gang. She is completely caught up with her peers, and is not held back by her disabilities. We cannot imagine our family without her. Thank you to A Child Waits Foundation for your help. Special needs adoption has been one of the best decisions our family has ever made. Our lives have been so blessed
The Amends