Dear Family and Friends,
It is with heavy and broken hearts that we sit down to write this letter, and humbly request your prayers for our family and Shan An Mi during this difficult time.
On Wednesday Sept. 24th (7 days before we were to leave for China) we received an email about a previously undiagnosed medical condition that had just been noticed in Shan An Mi. The news was a terrible blow, but at first glance we were not overly concerned. The next 36 hours were spent contacting doctors and Pediatricians and scouring the internet to find any and all information we could about her condition, which we came to learn included not only the outward physical signs, but the underlying potential for organ related problems. In itself, a complicated issue...one that was extremely difficult to evaluate in terms of our family's physical and financial ability to respond depending on the ultimate outcome. Making our decision even harder was the fact that there were differing medical opinions regarding her likelihood of having serious organ difficulty.
As all of you know Mi has a repaired cleft lip, which is a very minor "special need". Putting the two conditions together, although seemingly unrelated, only complicated the matter.
After much prayer, professional consultation, and many tears we have decided to withdraw from our adoption of Shan An Mi. To say we are crushed would be an understatement. We are both very hurt, and continue to pray we have made the right decision for our family and for Mi, that she might meet the "forever family" who may be better suited to care for her needs.
We have nothing left, but to believe these events have happened for reasons yet to be revealed to us, trusting in the Lord's grace and ultimate plans for our family.
We thank you all for your love and support through this entire adoption journey. At this point we don't feel like God has completely closed the door on our family adopting from China. We will be working with our agency to explore our options. But for now our hearts remain with Shan An Mi as a first priority, and our next course of action as secondary.
We ask you all for time to grieve...it feels as if we have truly lost our child. Please continue to pray for healing in our family and for Shan An Mi's physical healing and ability to be connected to the adoptive parents she deserves.
Love,
Loren and Heather
