Mickey & I will be married for 5 years in November of 2011. We wanted to start a family and to our surprise, we found ourselves expecting shortly after our wedding in 2006. We were so excited about the new addition coming into our lives.

On September 7, 2007 our son Andrew was born to our surprise with Down Syndrome. He is a healthy and wonderful sweet little boy who shows us everyday how greatly blessed we are to be his parents!

We have discussed the possibility of adoption for close to two years.  However just a few months ago to our surprise we found out…we were expecting our 2^nd child.  Only to get the news at the end of our 7^th week visit to the doctor, there wasn’t a heartbeat and no growth from the previous week. For peace of mind we wanted to wait another week and have another ultrasound, but that was not in the plan and we lost the baby. Since then after much prayer we have decided not to have anymore biological children. Although saddened by our loss, we have peace with that decision.  We believe God has placed it on our heart’s to save two unwanted children and give them a chance to live a life they were meant to live.

I was checking my Facebook page one day and a post of a picture of this 9 yr old little girl who was up for adoption and wanting to know if people would get the word out. I inquired about this little girl and in doing so, they posted about a website (www.eliproject.com) and I went to it to check it out. While I was looking at the website, I clicked on the children listed with “Special Needs”, because it’s close to my heart.  This is when I first saw Vanya; I clicked on him looked at his picture, my heart leaped inside my chest and was amazed how much he reminded me of our son Andrew. I then saw his birth date….September 14, 2007. He is exactly 7 days younger than Andrew.

The part that breaks my heart is we were finally able to take Andrew home from the NICU a week after he was born. That same day that we were driving to take our son home, Valentine was being born and left at the hospital to go to the orphanage just because he has Down Syndrome.  Ukraine doesn’t have schools for “Special Needs” children and the parents are encouraged to give them up for adoption. The country’s mentality is that a special needs child should not be outside an institution.  So many newborn babies are left at the hospital to go into an orphanage to be cared for with very little provision due to a poor conditions. Just days after they reach the age of 4 years old, they are permanently transferred to a mental institution mainly due to the limited space at the orphanages, and are hardly ever allowed to be adopted after that transfer.

Please help us write a new History for Valentine by breaking this plan that has been placed in front of him, of NO FAULT OF HIS!!!

Mickey’s and my heart have been drawn to him and for weeks I have thought about him and prayed for him.  If he is anything like Andrew, his is full of life and eager to learn, love & such a blessing.  I can’t bear the thought of him being chained to a bed and spending his life in a mental institution.

Typical children are asked to leave the orphanage around the age of 14 to 16 due to limited space. They are then left to live on the street because they do not have family to stay with or anyone to care for them.

While saying the above, we are also interested in adopting a little girl, but we have to get Valentine adopted now, because there is a short window of time to adopt him.

We are beginning the paperwork and the process of getting approved to adopt him, in the meantime raising the funds. The funds have to be in place prior to the time of travel. We believe, but not sure yet that it will be sometime in the later part of the summer. The process for children with special needs is shorter due to that most children with special needs are not wanted for adoption. Once approved by the Ukraine’s court we would finally be able to bring Valentine home.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. We ask that you would pray for what God would have you do, whether it is a donation, your prayers or support. We know how tight money is for people. We know that donating $25, $250 or $1000 or whatever seems like it cannot possibly make a difference. The truth is...it all adds up. We appreciate every single donation.

Thank You and God Bless,

The Fuller’s