Many circumstances confer on orphans a “special needs” moniker. If older age, developmental delay, physical need, or being part of a sibling group make finding the right family more challenging and success more rewarding, imagine the emotional reward that would accompany finding a mom and dad with room in their hearts and home for five!
Our Lighthouse Project translator told me last week of Artemiy, 9; Ruslan, 8; Ekaterina, 7; Alla, 4; and Oksana, 3, five brothers and sisters who await adoption, hopefully together. While the Russian government is generally loath to split up families, the translator postulated an exception might be made here. It is unusual for children under the age of five to live in the same orphanage as older children, but in this small orphanage in small town northern Russia, all five kids are together. Since they know and care for each other, it seems all the more heartless to acquiesce to such a placement strategy.
As if five children seeking one family were not a tall enough order, another issue conspires to compound the challenge. Ideally, interested families would have a completed home study in hand, along with USCIS approval to adopt internationally from Russia. Time is of the essence; the longer the children must wait for their adoptive family, the greater the risk they might be separated forever by the Russian foster care system.
While it strains credulity to believe a family wanting quintuplets both exists and reads this tiny blog, waving the white flag without even an attempt at locating that family is repellent to me.
