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Video of Natalie

National Adoption Awareness Month

Below is an email that I received from Addie Sanchez, a friend of mine who is adopting from China as well.  I thought it was really interesting and decided to post it here, in the spirit of National Adoption Awareness Month. 

Orphan Statistics

It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide (recent UNICEF report.)

The current population of the United States is just a little over 300 million… to give you an idea of the enormity of the numbers… (The current population of Russia is 141 million)

Every day 5,760 more children become orphans

2,102,400 more children become orphans every year in Africa alone 

Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but… 

Each year 14, 505, 000 children grow up as orphans and age out of the system by age sixteen

Each day 38,493 orphans age out

Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out with no family to belong to and no place to call home

In Russia and the Ukraine, studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit sucide before they reach age eighteen

These studies also show that 60% of the girls become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become hardened criminals 

Another Russian study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 10% committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years…

In a perfect world, there would be no need for adoption. Biological families would stay together.  Children would be raised by loving parents or grandparents and remain in their homeland, surrounded by their culture and connected to their roots tangibly.  Obviously, these statistics illustrate that we do not live in a perfect world.  Adoption is not the answer for solving the underlying issues of poverty and disease and famine and war.  It won’t stop the cycle of more children becoming orphans.  It is a life-line thrown out to a precious few… it rescues a small percentage from the going over the falls.  

It can be difficult to allow ourselves to really think about these statistics and what they represent.  Its easy to respond numbly and see the statistics in terms of thousands or millions… but when we allow ourselves to become personally involved and risk the heart-grief that follows awareness, they become more than mere statistics… they become real children with real hearts that ache for their parents and real bodies that hunger for care.  These precious children need advocates.  They need men and women willing to make a difference… willing to stand in the gap and act on their behalf. 

Natalie Nicole

We finally decided on a middle name.  She is going to be Natalie Nicole.  I have always loved both of those names and I love them together so there it is!  I have picked up a few things for Natalie over the last several months, but NEVER looked at clothes that were this small.  I am wondering if she will even fit in 2T's when we get her because she is so little.  Couldn't resist buying this little dress, in her little size, and dreaming about how cute she will look in it. 

More Details About Natalie

Chinese Name:  Tu Zhen

Birthplace:  She was found in the Children's ICU ward of Women's and Children's Hospital of Ningbo City

Birthday:  March 25, 2011

Present Location:  Enmei Children's Welfare Institute of Ningbo City

Description of Personality:  Active, likes listening to music, quick reaction, lovely, has a ready smile, gets along well with others 

Favorite Activity:  Outdoors 

Favorite Toys:  Dolls and Blocks

Introducing Natalie Reelfs!

                                                          Born on March 25, 2011

This is our beautiful new daughter!!!!  We got a call from our agency on Tuesday with this referral, and were so excited because we had just been waiting for this call.   I almost immediately said no because she is about a year younger than what we thought we wanted.  I struggled for several hours with whether or not to even accept her file so that we could see her pictures and information.  Right before I went to bed, I went ahead and emailed our social worker to tell her to go ahead and send the file.  I felt like I couldn't say no without at least looking.  When Chad and I saw her yesterday, it did not take us long to decide that she was the one.  We looked at her little face and just saw our daughter.  Chad was in love immediately and just wanted to get on a plane and go get her! I have thanked God a number of times that He prompted me to look at that file, and that He also provided other confirmations in different forms that all worked together to accomplish His plan for this child to be a Reelfs. 

We looked back through our photo albums of when Jenna was that age, and especially at her 2 year old pictures.  We were both just so overwhelmed with how fast the time has gone, and how absolutely adorable a young 2 year old is.  This helped to put things in perspective for us, and to realize how blessed we would be to be able to have this extra year with her.  She is completely perfect for our family and we felt a total peace about saying yes.  I think I have looked at her pictures about 200 times in the last 2 days.  I can't even describe what I feel right now, and how I am already thinking of her as "my baby girl."  We are ready to move forward with the next set of paperwork and everything else that needs to be done in order to bring her home.  It will most likely be another 6-7 months which is so difficult to even think about.  We want her now!