The little girl you see is Lauren. I love Lauren! I want to hold her, hug her, kiss her, and tell her that she is loved. Gary and I have struggled in the last few days with whether or not to bring Lauren home with Sasha. I cannot forget her face. I cry and I pray for Lauren.
Lauren is HIV+.
That, however, was not the issue for us. Please do not get me wrong, HIV is a big deal. I know many of you are appalled that we would even consider this, I mean we have other children to think about. The reality is that HIV is not as scary as it used to be. We have researched it, and spoken to medical professionals. Many children born with HIV lead normal lives and live into their 60's. There is amazing anti-retroviral medications out there that make it so that most of the people who have HIV have levels that are completely undetectable. And there has NEVER been a case of HIV being transfered to another person in a normal family setting. I would encourage you to learn more about HIV/AIDS at projecthopeful.org.
I have to be honest, if God asked us to do this, we wouldn't blink twice. We would risk our relationships with all of you and do just what he asked. I would be willing to be that woman. The crazy one, the one with the children nobody wants their kids to be around for fear of "catching something". In the future, we might adopt an HIV+ child...if this is what God has for us. Right now, we had to be honest with ourselves and realize that God is asking us to focus on our other 3 children right now. That was what stopped us. We are not afraid that it would endanger our children. We are not concerned about the cost, the medical treatment, etc. We were concerned about our time. We need time to connect with Sasha and adjust to the changing dynamic of our family.
I am asking all of you to please pray for Lauren, and for her family. She will always have a piece of my heart...the little girl who was almost ours.
You can find more info about Lauren here.
1 comment:
I just saw her picture the other day and was thinking the same thing about bringing her home too. It is so hard when you can easily bring two home to not even consider it. In the beginning I did have a problem with HIV, but now I know it is very easily managed and not easily passed from person to person.
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