Five Babies A Day Abandoned At Chinese City's 'Baby Hatch,' More Than 260 Unwanted Children Over Six Weeks

by Rida Ahmed from HNGN.com
In just over six weeks, more than 260 unwanted children, most of them babies, have been abandoned in a Chinese "safe haven"-more than five a day-since it opened in late January, authorities said.
The "baby hatch" in Guangzhou, in the southern province of Guangdong, was suspended on Sunday after the city's welfare home exceeded its capacity to handle new arrivals, Agence France-Presse reported.
With 67 percent of the babies being less than a year old, all of those abandoned also suffered from illnesses including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and congenital heart disease, the Bureau of Civil Affairs of Guangzhou Municipality said.
The facility was set up in late January and 262 children had been abandoned at it by Sunday morning, it said in a statement, according to AFP.
The 1,000-bed welfare home was housing 1,121 residents, with another 1,274 being cared for by foster families, the statement issued Sunday said.
Its quarantine facilities were "not enough to meet the demand" and wards that had previously held 50 children were now caring for 80 to 100, it added.

Andrea Roberts Helps Orphans With Down Syndrome Find Homes

By Alicia Dennis and Christina Tapper from People:

Andrea Faris Roberts figured her new son, born in 2002, got his almond-shaped eyes from her husband, Rich.

But when doctors confirmed that Reece had Down syndrome, "I couldn't stop crying," says Andrea, whose prenatal tests were normal. "I thought, 'What's tomorrow going to be like?' "

The answer: Reece has not only enriched his parents' lives but inspired his mom to save kids with Down syndrome around the world. Researching her son's condition, Andrea learned that in many countries, babies born with the disorder are often abandoned and left in orphanages.

Launching Reece's Rainbow in 2004, the former account manager wrote grant applications and networked with adoption agencies, ultimately dispersing over $4 million to fund adoptions of more than 850 children from Russia, China, Mexico and elsewhere.

Parents like John and Charissa Urban of Owasso, Okla., wouldn't know the love of Ava, now 8, adopted from Ukraine in 2008 without the help of Reece's Rainbow. They turned to the organization to help with funds to bring home little Ava – who weighed only 19 lbs. and was unable to roll over at age 3.

Though she initially had to use a walker to get around, Ava is now running, jumping and playing with her six siblings, including two who are adopted also (one of whom also has Down syndrome). "She's the center of our family," Charissa says. "We're so grateful."

Andrea says that families are being built every day.

"What is wonderful about Reece's Rainbow, is that families can go and see children's photos on the website and know that money is being raised to help with the adoption costs," says Andrea. "They see that it is a better possibility for them to be able to afford to adopt without the years of painful heartbreak in waiting to try to raise funds."

Today, 10-year-old Reece is in the 5th grade and loves playing basketball with his little brother, Owen, 7, in the family's yard in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He's also challenging his father at golf.

"He's got a better golf game than my husband any day of the week," laughs Andrea, 40. "He's got a wonderful swing."

Andrea insists that children with Down syndrome in institutions around the world are not forgotten and would be adopted if more families could afford the typical $25,000 fee (which includes home study costs, travel and adoption expenses).

"After six and a half years, all I can say to the world is, 'I told you so. I told you these kids were wanted,' " says Andrea. "Today, 850 children are not hidden away in institutions anymore. We have new connections every single day."

She adds: "If we had a full grant for every child on our website, we would have no children on our website. The cost is what is hard for people but every life is worth it. If we had more sponsors who could write a check for each of these kids and they would all have families. All of them."

And the proud mother says that her son Reece continues to be an inspiration.

"Reece," she says, "has helped so many families begin."

Daunting problems, undaunted parents

from the Philadelphia Inquirer by Tom Avril:

Reduced to bare numbers, the story of Katie seems impossible.
Age: 9 1/2 years.
Height: 29 inches.
Weight: Less than 11 pounds.
Yet that is how she was, lying in a crib in a Bulgarian orphanage, when Susanna Musser showed up to become her mom.
The little girl was alive, more or less. Her legs looked thin as broomsticks. Her skin was colorless, her brown eyes empty. She looked as if she might break.
Thousands of miles away, physicians at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia reviewed her records and struggled to understand. Katie had Down syndrome, but that would not explain why, at the age most children enter fourth grade, she weighed little more than a baby.
The doctors eventually agreed with Susanna and her husband, Joe, that this was a case of horrific neglect - that Katie, along with more than a dozen other disabled children at the orphanage, was simply a victim of long-term starvation.
What Katie needed, in careful doses, was healthy food. Once she left the orphanage for her trip back to Pennsylvania, however, the hollow-faced child had other ideas.
Finally in the arms of parents who had waited months to hold her fragile body, Katie suddenly refused to eat.

A blessing

It began, as so much else does these days, with the Internet.
Joe and Susanna Musser had a large, happy bunch of kids in their cozy, gray-shingled house, at the end of a gravel driveway in Lancaster County. Joe, a former pastor, earned a living as a carpenter, while Susanna taught their nine children at home.
Then came Verity. The Mussers' 10th child, whose name means truth, was born with Down syndrome. Though they knew almost nothing about children with disabilities, they saw her as a blessing from God.
So when Susanna started a blog, she named it "The Blessing of Verity," and it quickly drew an avid group of followers.
One of them e-mailed Susanna to ask about adopting children with Down syndrome, so Susanna did some research. She came across a Today show video from 2007, with wrenching images of emaciated children, confined to cribs in a Serbian mental institution. Some, like Verity, had Down syndrome.
Devout Christians, Susanna and Joe couldn't imagine that someone like their daughter would be discarded that way.
They looked at each other and realized that they, too, wanted to adopt.

Read the full story here.

vote for Reece’s Rainbow in the Classy Awards

from Reece's Rainbow:

Consider voting for Reece’s Rainbow, in the Classy Awards “Most Innovative Use of Social Media”!

In only 5 years, Reece’s Rainbow has found  “forever families” for more than 500+ orphans with Down syndrome and other special needs….*entirely* in the cyber world and through the exclusive use of social media.

Our website, parent blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and our new Iphone Apps have completely changed the dynamics of this ministry and our ability to raise awareness for these children!

FIVE HUNDRED CHILDREN are home and living the life they deserve to live, while 500 more are still waiting on our site.

Winning the Classy Awards will bring tremendous awareness and exposure for the rest of our waiting children and adopting families, who are all in need of grant donations. As we go into Buddy Walk season and our Christmas Angel Tree Project, this visibility will be critical to that life-saving success in 2011. Reece’s Rainbow is not just a charity…we have grown into a  movement that visually shares the blessing of Down syndrome and special needs across the DS community in the US and worldwide. Each and every adoption makes a global statement…proof of the potential and value of these children…evidence of what families will be missing out on if they terminate their pregnancies…

The need is great, but the opportunity to serve and change the world is even greater…and ACHIEVABLE….with your vote

Please pass on, post on your Facebook and blogs, we only have 3 short weeks of voting left and a monumental opportunity to raise RR to the next level!

Click this link and VOTE NOW! http://classyawards.stayclassy.org/classy-awards/voting