Tuesday we made our first trip to the orphanage. I literally had to fight back the tears as we first walked through for a tour, and honestly I can’t even tell you why. There are 21 kids ranging from eight months all the way up to fifteen years of age. There is a family of six children (one year to thirteen) whose parents are on drugs and keep relapsing. This isn’t their first time here. There is a good chance they won’t be going back home. Thankfully they have a relative that is considering taking them. There is a 13 year old whose family was killed in a car accident and no relatives are willing to take him. There is a set of siblings (one boy, one girl) who suffered sexual abuse and will not be returned to their parents. Then there is a little boy who is four years old. When he came to the orphanage, he was a year old, but only weighed 3-4 pounds. That is the size of a preemie baby and he was one years old. He has some mental delays (I really don’t know the details), but he is the sweetest little guy. He fell the other day and when Mike went to pick him up, he just threw his arms around him and laid his head on his shoulder.
I was doing some reading on Ecuadorian adoption laws at the following websites:
http://www.ecuador.org/nuevosite/serviciosconsulares_misc_e.php
They are similar to the ones in the States. In fact, if you cannot adopt within the U.S., you are likely not going to be able to adopt here. I believe there is a fee of $720 to file the paperwork, along with $85 for biometric screening (per adult adopting).
