SPECIAL NEED OR NOT?

When we were praying about adopting last year, we knew that God was asking us to adopt a "special needs" child because the camp that David & Morgan worked at last summer were all special needs children. He and Morgan both came back feeling lead in that direction. I am not going to lie and say that it was a easy decision, because making the decision to adopt was a BIG deal for me but then the unknown of "special needs" and what that meant was very scary. 

So we started filling out all the mounds of paperwork in which you tell them the needs you feel like you & your family can handle and you go from there. We had prayed about it & marked down several needs, such as: cleft lip, hep B, any blood disorders and minor heart defects.  We submitted all the paperwork and when the referral came back in February with Madison's photo and file it listed Thalassemia as her special need.  In simple terms Thalassemia which is a blood disorder passed down through families which destroys red blood cells and leads to anemia.  

Well it just so happens that our social worker also adopted a little girl with Thalassemia so I called and spoke with her.  There are two types of Thal; Alpha and Beta and Beta is more severe and requires blood transfusions on a regular basis.  Once we got the file we felt like this was indeed the daughter God had chose for us and that He would help us take care of her regardless of what the need was.  So we stepped out on faith and said YES.

Now skip to yesterday when we went to the Dr. to discuss the blood results and get a few shots...as we discussed the test results we found out that Madison is only a carrier of the Thalassemia and that she DOES NOT have a blood disorder at all!  She will never need a blood transfusion or to be treated for this in anyway.  Dr. Tappan said the only concern would be that if she were to marry someone with the same trait then there would be a strong possibility that her children would have Thalassemia.  Are you serious?  How cool is it that our beautiful special needs child has NO special needs at all? 

Over the past several weeks of being around Madison I really felt like she didn't have this condition and we are so thankful that all the blood work has come back negative.  Its just a another reminder of God's faithfulness throughout this process and that He truly is in control.  All that's left is a few more booster shots in about a month so thanks for praying! God is good, all the time!

Blessings-

Melissa