Things we take for granted.

More from the book, "Silent Tears':
" In China, many children with cleft palates or cleft lips die because of complications or starvation. If they do survive, they are shunned by society their entire lives. Some are abandoned and brought to orphanages...China has more than it's share of these cleft lip and palate babies. Research doesn't have all the answers as to why they are born this way, but there is a great deal of evidence suggesting it is likely the deficiency of folic acid in the pregnant mother's diet. Most Chinese women are too poor to afford prenatal care or even simple vitamins...."
"Because of the cleft deformity, these babies have a difficult time sucking. It is heartbreaking to see the effort it takes them to drink milk with it coming out of their noses or spilling over their faces. THey often go hungry because the workers don't have enough time to spend on feeding them properly. "Kay Bratt

When I first got Gracie's picture I couldn't find what was wrong with her. We were planning to accept a "special needs' child. All I could see was a gap in the top of her lip. Other than that she looked fine. To the Chinese, in many cases, flaw of any nature are unacceptable. Also, a rural family would most likely not be able to afford the surgery needed to fix the problem. The fact that she spent over two years in an orphanage for this minor flaw boggles my mind. If she would have been born here, the US, the "flaw" would have been fixed before she was a year old. The younger the children are , the faster they recover from the surgery.

We take for granted many of the freedoms and "luxuries" that this great country has given us. We take for granted everyday comforts that God has given us. I cannot express in words how grateful I am that God chose our family to offer our Gracie, Xu Hai Ying as she was called in the orphanage unconditional love for the rest of her life. I think we can make up for 2 years.