Blogging for a cause: Cleft Lip and Palate Education

When I first began the process of adoption, I was NOT open to special needs adoption.
Over the next 4 years, God put people in place to show me that not all special needs the same.
I've seen a child adopted with albinism ... she has some visual defects, but is developmentally on target for a child her age.
I've seen children adopted with limb abnormalities ... but they thrive when in a nurturing environment.

The special need that God opened my heart to was Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate.

My friends, Rich and Jane, adopted Kennedi. Kennedi had a cleft lip, which was repaired in China. She also had a cleft palate which was repaired when she got home. Kennedi is a perfectly healthy child. She is a joy ... to friends and family alike. I was able to see her before the surgery, and after the surgeries. She is THRIVING!!!!!!

My friends Kim and Bryan adopted Savannah ... her cleft was repaired in China ... and she is a thriving 5 year old now.

In January 2009, I was introduced to the Chinese Starfish Foster Home Blog. Amanda began this foster home to help the orphanage with VERY sick and needy children. In one day, she accepted 9 cleft babies. One of those babies is known as "Tina". She was maybe a week old. I fell in love. I felt drawn to this child. She was a bilateral cleft lip baby....not sure about palate... her lip repair was done by Dr. Lisa Buckmiller (my surgeon for Mari-Grace) in Nov 2009.

ANYWAY .... following the journey of Kennedi, Savannah, and then "Tina" and the other babies on the Starfish blog helped me to open my heart to the special needs adoption program in China.

When I renewed my homestudies in May 2009, I agreed to look into the special needs list to find my daughter. Ten months later, I got my referral for Mari-Grace.

I want to use my blog to help people understand what a cleft lip and palate really is.

First .. HAIR-LIP is NOT proper terminology, and can be offensive to some. The proper terminology is CLEFT LIP or CLEFT PALATE. I'll refer to it as CL/CP.

I'll be posting pictures of Mari-Grace and her process of repair. If our journey can help someone ... then it is my duty to provide that help.

My goal is to provide education for adoptive parents who may be considering adopting a CL/CP child.