Aren't you scared....

of adopting a child with HIV?

I get asked this question a lot and to be honest my answer is no and yes.

No, I am not scared of my child's HIV being transmitted to anyone in my family or anyone else for that matter. Once I knew the facts of HIV, the thought of transmition rarely crossed my mind when I think about our little girl.

No, I am not scared that I will not be able to watch her grow up. I am confident that our little girl will grow up and live a very long, fulfilling life. I am confident that she will go to her proms, graduate high school, go on to college (if that's what she chooses), get married, have children, have grandchildren, etc. The medications available today have done so much for the life span of people with HIV and I can only assume that the medications will get better as our little girl gets older.

So, why the yes? What am I scared of? Well, there is one thing that scares me just a little bit. I do think about the medication that our little girl will have to take and worry about what the long term side effects will be. No one has the answer to this because the medications have not been used long enough to know the long term side effect. But, I am sure that the benefits of the medication far out weigh any side effects, either in the present or in the future, of that medication.

The thing I am the most scared of though and think about the most often is that my little girl will be treated differently, or worse cruely, because of her HIV. We have not decided how open we are going to be about her status, but we have decided that it is not something that we are going to try to hide. We feel hiding her status only adds to the stigma associated with HIV. If she had inherited a genetic disorder from her birth mother no one would even think twice about it. And no matter how a person contracted HIV they still deserve to be treated with respect. I am so scared that people will be mean to her. As a parent you never want your child to be hurt, whether it be physically or emotionally. I can only hope and pray that our little girl will help to open people's hearts to people with HIV and that she will never have to feel ashamed of something that does not define who she is, but is just another part of her.

New Look

As you have noticed I have given my blog a new look.

I want our blog to be not only about our adoption from Ukraine, but also about advocating for the adoption of children with HIV. I have added a few "buttons" on the side of the blog that will link you to some wonderful websites and blogs that have so much information on HIV and adopting a child with HIV. Please visit these sites and read the information and stories there.

I hope that through our journey we can open the eyes and hearts of even just one person to these wonderful children that are so deserving of a family. I also hope that even if in just some small way we can help to break the stigma associated with HIV, so that families do not have to wrestle with whether or not to disclose their child's status to people.

I hope you will enjoy following our "Positive Adoption Story".

God Answers Prayers

I received word today that Ukraine's government will not be voting on ending international adoption tomorrow!!! The vote has been taken off their schedule and is not on the schedule anywhere in the near future. This is such an answer to prayer.

Please continue to be in prayer for Ukraine's orphans though as their future still is not certain. There are many economical and political issues at work in Ukraine and things can change at any time. For now at least, things look good.

Thank you for your continued prayers!!