What some people just can't seem to realize (birth, orphanages, children)

[no kudzu]

My stepdaughter is frequently criticized for how close she has kept her own adopted daughter. I too faced some criticism when my kids were very young. Please don't criticise something you don't understand.

Mom pens reply to Target shopper who said she spoils her baby

[CraigCreek]

The baby in question has Down syndrome and was adopted from Eastern Europe, I believe, with the assistance of Reece's Rainbow. Eastern European orphanages are not great at best, and are typically poorly funded and regimented so that many children can be cared for more easily by an inadequate number of caregivers, who may or may not be loving people who enjoy children. Children with special needs are at particular risk in such places, and often babies with Down syndrome are assumed to have no intellect whatsoever and thus receive little attention and often grossly inadequate physical care. That' attitude is slowly changing in EE, but at a snail's pace. Children with DS or other special needs are usually kept in baby house orphanages until the age of four, when children typically are transferred to "children's home" orphanages. But children with special needs, unless they are high-functioning, are at risk of instead being transferred to typically bleak, isolated and poorly funded and inadequately staffed rural mental institutions which may also house adults up to age 35, both those with developmental issues and those with mental illness.

So this little girl was truly rescued. From her mother's comments, it sounds as if she received typical care in the orphanage where she spent her early months: no individual attention, left in her crib for hours with no toys or anyone interacting with her, removed from the crib rarely, given no affection and possibly roughly handled by a caregiver who thought she had no intellect and was unable to feel pain as a result. No wonder she - and other children from the same background - initially behave as her mother reports and have difficulty with trusting relationships with others - that is the logical outcome of such severe early neglect.

Fortunately, this little girl now has a family who love her dearly and who are providing great care for her, and who are fully aware of the reasons for her behavior. She is physically healthy now, as is obvious from the pictures, and has a bright future ahead of her. Had she remained in an orphanage in her country of birth, she would have had no future whatsoever beside living in a mental institution for the rest of her life, which very likely would have been shortened, not because of her DS, but because of the lack of so much in her life.

[no kudzu]

my step granddaughter was born in poverty in Iran at 3.5 lbs and in orphanage till she was adopted at 3 months. My s daughter told me about visiting the orphanages there and watching the nannies having no eye contact with the babies, chatting with each other and no massaging or playing with the babies and how the baby rooms were deathly quiet because they soon learned no one would come to comfort them so they never cried.

She is 8 now and suffers from extreme Sensory Integration Disorder and has to have constant stimulation. But she is in the right hands as my s daughter is a therapist and has devoted her life to her care. unfortunately the father could not understand or tolerant the situation and has abandoned his family.