Please Remember Susy!

November 1 is the beginning of the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree . Its purpose is to draw attention to and help raise adoption grant funds for special needs orphans. I have the privilege of being the warrior for a little princess with the file name of “Susy.” My goal is to raise a thousand dollars for a grant towards her adoption costs. I'll tell you more about that in a couple of weeks.

If you are friends with me in real life, on Facebook, or a reader of my blog you have seen this adorable face before. I “met” Susy a year and a half ago when she was highlighted on Red Thread Advocates, associated with the WACAP agency, and her file name at that time was “Zuza.” I immediately had a connection with this little one, and though our family's path went in another direction (we were in process for Isaac at the time) I have never forgotten about her. Indeed, who COULD forget that smile?

Susy was found at (an estimated) two years of age and came into the care of her orphanage. She had some rehabilitation as was available in her province, and can now sit and even stand while holding onto something.

I will take a side step here to say a bit about how things work in regards to the waiting children available for adoption in China. An agency may have a specific child's file assigned to them for a few months. The file is then held only by that specific agency, and only that agency can handle the child's adoption process. Generally during that period of time an agency will advocate for, and try their best to match this child's file with one of their clients or as allowed in the case of the “Special Focus” children, with a family who has yet to begin the process. This is where I came upon Zuza, when she was assigned to WACAP.

After WACAP's allotted time was up to match Zuza, her file was then assigned to Madison Adoption Associates  and they too tried to find her family, this time with the file name of Susy. Sadly after both of these agencies were unsuccessful, Zuza/Susy was relegated to the Shared List.

For those not familiar with the Shared List, it is for special needs children whose file is not assigned to any agency. The good news is that means any agency who can facilitate China adoptions may request and process the adoption. The bad news is that there are over 2000 files on the Shared List, and a child can become almost invisible in the crowd.

Total – 2107

October 5, 2015 stats:
Girls – 564 (26.8%)
Boys – 1543 (73.2%)
Dossier First – 2 (0.094%)
Aging Out (10+ years old) – 712 (33.8%), 232 girls/480 boys
Aging Out (12+ years old) – 327 (15.5%), 104 girls/223 boys 
Aging Out (13+ years old) – 175 (8.3%), 57 girls/118 boys

Breaking it down:
There are 712 children age 10 and up as of the end of October 2015. Of those 712 older children, 327 of them are 12+ and 175 of them are 13+. This means by this time next year, 175 children are aging out of the system completely.  (Statistics and graphic courtesy of Red Thread Advocates )

Friends, that is where we come in.  We must not let Susy become invisible.

When I first laid eyes on THIS PICTURE I knew that Zuza/Susy could not be just forgotten and left to the fate that the handicapped face in their country.  It is just not equipped for their differences.

Susy at age 4

Susy's file states a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy. (Not sure what to expect?  See my post HERE.) At this time she cannot walk unassisted, take herself to the toilet, or talk. Given those factors there is always the speculation of mental delays, and the very likely institutional delay that most orphans experience. If you've met my beautiful daughters from China, you know this was pretty much them just two years ago, and look at them now! While I can't guarantee that Susy's outlook is exactly the same as theirs, I am sure that with the medical care available in the States, regular therapy and the love of a family we could see this adorable little peanut BLOSSOM big time.

I see the faces of literally dozens of Chinese orphans every month. Why does one in particular stick with me? I believe in this case it is because I am supposed to DO SOMETHING. At this point is seems that advocating for this precious one is my assignment. Do you have the room in your home and your hearts to consider making Susy a part of your family? If not, will you help me to keep searching for them? Will you pray for this precious little girl?  Don't let Susy become invisible on the Shared List! We must not forget about her!

Updated photo, Susy at nearly 6 years old, October 2015

UPDATE:  My advocacy for Susy has paid off, and she has a family working hard to quickly process their paperwork!  WE ended up getting our Preapproval from China in December of 2015.  We are thrilled that we get to be her parents!