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March is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, and we think it’s a perfect time to catch up with Patrick, a child with cerebral palsy who was adopted nearly two years ago.

We had already gone down the special needs adoption road, and I had been advocating for Patrick for months. Patrick was a nine-year-old boy with a somewhat obvious special need, and no one was stepping forward for him. For some reason my heart would pound when I looked at him. Read more.

The first two reasons for the shift in orphanage populations in China are both positive ones – an evolving attitude towards girls and the sharp increase in domestic adoption. The third major reason, however, is quite sad.

Birth defects in China have risen 70% in the last decade. (See Source 1). Mr. Jiang Fan, of the National Population and Family Planning Commission stated that birth defects now affect one in ten households in China, with a child being born every 30 seconds with a medical need. Read more.

I adopted my son, who is missing part of his arm, six years ago. He is such a wonderful, loving child, and not a day goes by that I don’t give thanks for the privilege of being his mom. Here are three things I wish I had known, however, about parenting a child with a visible special need.

Read more.