[Hayley]

My husband and I are considering adoption and would like some guidance.

We currently have two children: a boy, aged 5, and a girl aged 18 months. Both my pregnancies were difficult, and although we would like another child, I'm not prepared to go through pregnancy again.

Our little girl was born with multiple birth defects, the worst being imperforate anus. We were blessed to be close to the worlds best surgeon for this malformation and that our insurance actually covered the operation. We would like to adopt a female child with this or a related birth defect. Having gone through this before, we feel that we would be able to give a child with this problem an excellent, well prepared and loving home.

I would welcome any advice on adopting a special needs child with a specific defect.

Thank you!
Hayley

[riley6]

You can either call your local department of social services or an adoption agency and they would be able to tell you if they have children with those defects go through their office.

[JuliannaTeresa]

Are you only considering that specific Defect?

[Hayley]

Thank you for the replies. No, I'm not necessarily considering just that defect. But because of the ordeal we went through with our daughter I'm very familiar with this disorder, its complications and longterm problems a child with it might experience. It would be the first one I would consider. Believe it or not, it's one of the more common birth defects, and if the surgery is not done correctly the child will have lifelong problems with bowel continence.

We would probably consider an infant with cleft lip/palate, and disorders in the same classification as my daughters (cloaca, imperforate anus), and possibly club foot.

I don't think that my family is emotionally able to deal with a child with a life threatening illness, or one with severe mental handicaps. I couldn't burden my children with a potential loss of a sibling.

Thanks!
Hayley