Why adoption?

Dear Friends,

Let me introduce to you our little Princess. She is so precious! Although she is three years old and deaf, she is full of life. She resides in the Efata Orphanage in Lima, Peru. In addition to being deaf, she has Cerebral Palsy, a disease that often involves brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking. Although all signs point to a mild case, only time will tell the extent of it. As you may have assumed by now, being in a third-world country their capability to fully diagnose and treat such diseases are limited. Her name is Claudia.

You may ask what this little child has to do with us and why she is so precious. It started when we almost lost our youngest son- Levi. Sparing many details, Michelle walked into his room on December 16, 2009 to find him barely breathing and blue in color. We rushed him to the hospital where several doctors and nurses frantically worked for 45 minutes to get his oxygen level back to normal and get an IV started. Tests would later reveal that the feeding tube which had been placed in his abdomen just 48 hours prior had dislodged and therefore caused his stomach to leak all its contents into his abdominal and chest cavity. When all said and done, this required two subsequent surgeries, two-PICU stays and 16 total days(including Christmas) in the hospital. It was during this time, after realizing how much God had blessed us by sparing our youngest son's life that we decided we wanted to adopt a child that might be less fortunate medical-wise. This decision was confirmed just a few months after Levi's ordeal when we were advised by a Geneticist that we should consider not having anymore biological children since both of our boys were born with digestive issues that required feeding tubes for the first few years of their lives.

It is our heart's desire to adopt Claudia. There are many details that came about in the early stages of this process that pointed us directly to her. We have decided that we are going to do this no matter how long it takes. We have made several financial decisions in our lives to try and bring this about sooner such as becoming a one-car family. The total amount financially is quite staggering, but thanks to some dear friends hosting a yard-sale they raised $2,000 in just one weekend.

Our intent in writing this letter is to ask you to consider making a tax-deductible donation towards bringing our princess home to her forever family. If just 100 of our family and friends would sacrifice the cost of one dinner out we could make a huge stride financially. You can donate online by going to www.opendooradoption.org and clicking on the "donate now" link on the left side of the page. In order for the donation to go towards us, you must enter "Jonathan & Michelle Walterhouse-Peru Adoption" in the Designation box on the donation page. 

Another option you may consider is buying something for your home. A very generous friend of ours, who is a Pamper Chef Consultant has arranged an awesome deal for us. You can buy some incredible stuff for your home and a portion of what you spend will be donated toward the adoption of our little princess.

If you would like to check out this awesome deal, please click on the following link:
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/sarahmccullough?page=host-search-results&showId=3095758

As much as we wanted to attach a picture for you to see her, we are unable to do so due to strict guidelines set forth both by the Peruvian government and our adoption agency. However, when all is said and done I assure you that there will be plenty of pictures for your perusal.

Thank you for your consideration and most of all your prayers.

Blessings, Jonathan, Michelle, Jaiden, Levi & Little Princess Walterhouse