great episode

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Permalink Reply by Tassie Kowal on June 10, 2009 at 2:13pm

Kay I couldn't agree more. My husband and I have two kids adopted from China, our NSN (non special needs) daughter is now 5 and was adopted in June 2005 and we have a now 5 1/2 yo son who was born cleft-affected and adopted just before he turned 4 in July 2007 (he's 4 1/2 mos older than our daughter.) The biggest challenges facing cleft-affected kids is getting them to the weight necessary to be eligible for the initial lip and palate repairs. Many adoptive parents, even those adopting the NSN route, will take cleft bottles over to the orphanages their child is coming from as a donation. The best of intentions don't work unless the recipient actually uses them, a sad reality in the case of cleft babies who desperately need that special bottle and the time it takes to be fed. Cleft healing homes are a win-win for the orphanages who have too many children to care for (there are appx 300 at the SWI my son is from and about the same amount at the other SWI in that city) - with time being a common reason as to why the cleft kids aren't fed as much. Having a dedicated home for cleft affected babies and older children to be prepped for this life saving and altering surgery, a place where they can be cared for in an environment that enables them to thrive would be beyond wonderful. I really hope this episode becomes a reality.