Marcus is a little boy who came up in some of my research on adoptions from Eastern Europe in October/November when I first heard about Luka. Ever since I saw his face and read his shame over his legs and disbelief that anyone would adopt a child in a wheelchair, I don't go a day without thinking about him.
I was trying to check out the process, make sure the agency advocating for Luka was legitimate, and looking into special needs international adoptions to see what issues come up and what other parents' experiences were. I found Reece's Rainbow which advocates specifically for orphans with Down Syndrome but generally for orphans with special needs of all kinds. Reece's Rainbow allows donations towards the adoption costs of each of the children they list.
Anyway, Marcus was one of many children I saw but he touched my heart in a profound way.
Today, someone on my Deaf/Hard of Hearing adoption listserv (the same group that I heard about Luka through) sent an update on a Deaf orphan who found her family and there was a link to this woman's blog. What a surprise that there happened to be a blog entry with an update on Marcus from June 4. Call it fate, destiny, whatever. I felt I had to post here in case one of my friends or family might know someone or someone who knows someone who could parent Marcus. It's a long shot but I had to try. Every other child from the group Marcus was originally photographed with last year has been adopted. He is the only one left.
He is 10 years old and has spina bifida. Based on the description of where he is, I believe he is in Ukraine. I could be wrong. The procedure for Ukraine adoption is much different than for Poland and many other countries. However, many people adopt from Ukraine. If he were younger than Padraig, there would be no question, I would have pushed Matt to adopt him as well as Luka. But we will not adopt out of birth order--the adjustment it would force on existing children's "hierarchy" can be damaging (not that it can't be done successfully, it's just not something we would do).
Please check out the blog entry update on him http://www.xmaswarrior.blogspot.com/2012/06/marcus.html and follow the link to the Reece's Rainbow profile. It appears he now has over $3000 in donations towards his adoption costs. But I warn you not to click around on the blog or the Reece's Rainbow page, you will see SO many sweet faces with so much potential waiting in bad places with little hope of finding a family. It is over whelming and at times I wish I had never become aware of all these children--the children who will not be adopted in their own countries because of their medical issues and who have only a tiny hope of being adopted internationally because those families too want "healthy" children.
And don't get me started on boys! Internationally adopting families overwhelmingly want healthy GIRLS, so boys have even less chance than girls to be adopted. In almost every country program through any agency, the agency will tell you that the wait for girls is MUCH longer. Why? I don't know, I can guess many reasons; none of which I particularly agree with. But for us, we are always just happy to get a child--girl or boy. And China? The place most famous for adopting girls? They are desperate for families to adopt BOYS! Yet, families in the vast majority go to China open only to girls.
I could go on and on with these issues, but I want to get back to Marcus with those big brown eyes that make my heart ache. He probably needs parents experienced or willing to learn how to deal with spina bifida and who understand that they will need to read and prepare for the adoption of an older child who has been in an institution. It would be no primrose path to be sure and the parenting methods for such a child are very different than for a child who has lived in a family setting but the rewards would be amazing and there is SO much love to be gained for both the parents and Marcus.
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