I really like this entry, Sharron.  It has bothered me before when I heard the “lucky” comments.  Now I understand why - it was clearly the wrong word for the situation.  I’ll educate others about this too.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, Danielle!

I couldn’t understand when Some says they were Proud of me and my husband or when they said our kids were lucky to have us. I didn’t and don’t understand that. They don’t say I’m lucky or proud that I had my biological son.

Hi! I just joined the site and I found you while searching for India adoption information-I was wondering if there is any advice, links, etc that you found helpful during your journey that you could suggest. My family very much wants to start the adoption of a little girl from India and I just contacted the Catholic Charities in NC (where we live) as well as the http://www.csa.org.in site to get more info on where to start. Anything you can share, since you have been through the process, would be wonderful! Thank you

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Hi Michelle,
Sorry I didn’t see your comment earlier!

A great source of information on adoption from India is the Yahoo group IChild, if you haven’t already joined! The adoption process from India has changed a bit in the past five years, so that’s a great place to find veteran families like mine, as well as those with more up-to-date information. Best of luck!

I so loved this entry. We recently brought our now 8 month old daughter home from Ethiopia and she has a cleft lip and palate. Everyone that sees her walks up and says how lucky she is and it has alway bothered my husband and I because we don’t ever want her to feel indebted to us. We also hope that she is grateful to be a family and that she will know that she will never “OWE” us anything. We always say that we are the ones that have been so blessed because she has brought so much to our lives and she is a very sweet girl.

While I do not wish to put a damper on the wonder of saving a child from an orphanage in India or a life on the street, I want you to be aware of a specific health issue that can arise with children from third-world countries. S.S.P.E. Sub-acute Sclerosing pan Encephalitis. A fatl complication of the measles virus. My husband and I lost our beautiful daughter, Emmalee, on Sunday January 2 2011 to S.S.P.E. We had adopted her from an orphanage called Preet Mandir in Pune, India in July 2005. She became seriously ill in August of 2010. We lost her 5 months later. The measles virus can stay in the body and mutate. Whie it appears the child recovered when they had the measles, it stays as a ticking time bomb in the body. If you see any signs that appear to be tremors, poor coordination, learning disabilities, explosive behavious, head drops, sudden tripping or falling, get health care fast. It comes on like a ton of bricks. Unfortunately, the kids don’t receive timely measles vaccines in many orphanages and they are exposed to the measles as infants, the most dangerous time. Your pediatrician has never heard of S.S.P.E. Go straight to a children’s hospital. There was a doctor from India in the e.r. when we took our duahgter the first time and he knew right away what was wrong by the symptoms and the history of being in an orphanage in India. Our duaghter, then Snehal, had been in the orphanage since she was 11 days old. If you wish to discuss this further you can reach me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)