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FEATURED WAITING CHILD: BURKINA FASO
 This sweet boy was found and placed in the orphanage when he was 4 years old. He was blind and very malnourished. His blindness was due to congenital cataracts, for which he has had surgery. He can now see some, but not well. He can see objects, light, and darkness. Other than his visual impairment, he is in good health and developing fine. |
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OUR FAMILY OF SIXTEEN
The following was written by AAI family John and Susan of Washington.
I am 61 and my wife is 54. We just adopted our sixteenth child in July. Here is a brief description of our journey from fifteen childless years together to the joys of parenting such a large family.
About twenty years ago, filled with misconceptions and blissfully naive, we began looking for a birthmother who would be willing to make an adoption plan with us. We were attempting to complete a "private adoption," because we could not begin to afford a private agency adoption and were a little afraid of foster care. In fact, we wanted the classic "healthy newborn closed adoption." Seal the records, forget there was a birth family and live happily ever after - just evidence of the misconceptions mentioned above.
We had many situations that appeared promising, even women who decided that we could parent their unborn child. We would be ecstatic and dream aloud about the childhood we were about to see unfold before us. When the message came that the woman had terminated the pregnancy or, because of the generous offer of a relative, decided to parent the child herself, the agony was nearly unbearable. Therefore, we purposely jaded our hearts to dampen the emotional roller-coaster and referred to any potential adoptees as "maybe babies."
Continue Reading...
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AUGUST HOMECOMINGS
Several children arrived home with their forever families this past month! They are:
- boy age 10 from WA Foster/Adopt
- boys age 6 months and 2 years from WA Foster/Adopt
- boy age 4 from WA Foster/Adopt
- boy age 5 from WA Foster/Adopt
- girl age 15 from Ethiopia
- girl age 2 from Ethiopia
- girl age 13 from from Ethiopia
- girl age 1 from Ethiopia
- boy age 1 from Ethiopia
- boys age 5 and 9 from Ghana
- boy age 8 from Ghana
- girl age 12 and boy age 7 from Uganda
- girl age 9 from Burkina Faso
- girl age 2 from China
- girl age 6 from China
- boy age 2 from Thailand
Welcome home and congratulations AAI families!
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FEATURED WAITING CHILD: UGANDA
This adorable little boy is 5 years old. He is reported to be healthy and developmentally on track. He is in his first year of school. He has been in the orphanage for two years. He is very shy with new people but gets along well with the other children and caregivers at his orphanage. This orphanage requires Christian families who can provide a letter of reference from their pastor.
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CELEBRATING 30 YEARS WITH GOOD FOOD!
 Food keeps us alive, but it does so much more. Each culture, each region, even each family creates a unique cuisine to help forge and strengthen family ties and traditions. In thinking about a way to celebrate Adoption Advocates International's 30 years of worldwide service to children and families, we decided to put together a special cookbook. 
This creation, featuring 30 of the countries in which AAI has had programs or families over the years, is a festive and meaningful way to honor our past while offering us all the opportunity to enjoy tasty treats from diverse cultures.
You'll be hearing more about the specifics of this cookbook in the coming months. We hope to have it hot off the press in time for the holidays. The recipes are family-friendly and most can be prepared easily, especially with the help of all your children!
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Goodness gracious! Where am I? I hope some nice children come along soon...
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AN AAI WEDDING
Nancy is an adoptive mother and was an AAI Counselor for many years. Preya, one of her adopted daughters, was recently married. Check out some beautiful pictures of the bride below!
Says Nancy, "It was truly amazing how Pre had planned such a big event - 200+ people. The facility and decorations were lovely and elegant. There was a simple ceremony outdoors, a religious ceremony in Spanish indoors, a mariachi band, great Mexican food (cooked by his family and ours), a DJ and dancing and traditional Mexican wedding activities."
"At 10:30 p.m., Pre changed out of her dress and cleaned right along with the rest of us. At midnight, we all left. They opened their gifts, Villy played soccer at 9 a.m., they ran errands and then left on their honeymoon!"
We at AAI wish a lifetime of happiness to the new couple!
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THE ARCHIBALD PROJECT: MEET THE RICHARDS FAMILY
The Archibald Project is a non-profit organization that advocates for orphans and adoption through photography and videography. Their dedicated staff and volunteers document families throughout their adoption processes, sharing stories to educate and inspire others.
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Salem and Keith Richards with their three children adopted from Uganda.
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AAI's own Salem Richards and her family - husband Keith, sons Mayer and Benjamin, and daughter Jovia - are currently featured on the organization's blog. Click here to read more about this wonderful family!
The Richards will also be featured in an upcoming documentary created by The Archibald Project. The first showing will be in October at the 2013 Together for Adoption National Conference. If you're attending the conference, keep an eye out for Salem who will be presenting a session about special needs adoption! For more information, visit the Together for Adoption website.
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