Prayers for Jose

It's late on a Sunday night. AJ is sleeping, the dogs are passed out, and AJ's Dad is out for the night. While I am plugging along full speed ahead on continued preparation for AJ's IEP meeting, I am also thinking about another very special little boy.

Last July we received a random email from a fellow adoptive family. Althought we had/have never met, we used the same placement agency. They had just returned home with their daughter. She also had spent the first months of her life the same orphange where AJ was.

The email said that AJ's biological younger brother was at the orphange. Pictures were attached, along with sketchy information about him.

I remember my heart jumping out of my chest. It was almost the same feeling as when I first saw AJ's referral picture two years earlier. The boys looked very similiar; they could almost be twins. I felt a sense of peace come over me, as I knew in that moment, that AJ's birthmother had obviously been in contact with the attorney and would know that AJ was "ok". We had mixed feelings, obviously wanting to help AJ's brother in any way possible, but also knowing that adopting him was virtually impossible. How awesome would it be to have biological brothers together forever? If there was a way to put a tag on him that said "HOLD", we would have done it.

Adoptions in/from Guatemala ceased in December 2007, just a few months after we brought AJ home. The orphanges are all private (most run by attorneys, as AJ's was, or by church organizations, etc.), meaning they rely on adoption fees and donations only. The government does NOT help, fund, or in my opinion, care about the orphanges. There is no social system in place to help this country's citizens. When adoptions stopped, many orphanges began to struggle.

While we will not share how/why AJ's brother was brought to the orphange, we do know the reason. Let me say it makes me respect the boys birthmother on a whole different level. We contacted the appropriate people, offering help and asking if Guatemala reopening adoptions was likely. Both were dead ends. We have continued to inquire about AJ's brother, with no answers. The orphange was raided a few weeks ago, but no children were taken.

So, here we are, working like madmen to do everything in our power for AJ...wishing we could do the same for his brother. Adoptions in Guatemala are still closed. We pray for him, and hope that if we were not meant to be his forever family, that he is safe, well cared for, and will have his own forever family...sooner than later.

Please keep AJ's brother in your thoughts and prayers.