Denzel Is Aging Out!

I can hardly believe that it has come to this. Over two years ago this sweet boy first found his way into my heart. He was in the same room as one of the boys we were adopting. He was in the same room as two more children who we are going back for. If I was blessed with infinite time and money and ability, he would be one of many, many children in our home. But despite all of the things we have been blessed with, we have limits. We can't bring home seven children on this trip. Every "yes" to one child is a "no" to two, five, twenty other children. We said "yes" to Amos, then to Daisy, then to Lee and Violet.  Each of those "yes" decisions was a "no" to the special children like Denzel who we also carefully considered bringing home.

I want in my heart to believe that we were led to our other children because Denzel has a great family coming for him. And he might have one out there already. I have had many people ask me about Denzel, but none of them could say "yes" to Denzel right now. Believe me, it is not for lack of wanting and praying and trying. There are people who love this boy deeply. But because of his country's requirements or immigration requirements or because families have already said "yes" to other kids, Denzel still waits.

Denzel can't wait much longer.

In January Denzel will turn 16 and age out. A family needs to file paperwork and fees before then. Aging out isn't the only threat creeping up on Denzel though. Denzel has been transferred from one institution to another. This wasn't the dreaded transfer out of the baby house. Denzel had already survived that. He just barely survived it. In 2007 a charity started to visit the institution he had been transferred to. He was 6 when they started to visit. Children were regularly starving to death. Children were transferred to the bedridden ward from the baby house, and the majority of them died before the next batch of kids were transferred the following year.

Denzel was saved in time, but barely. You can see the hair growing on his face. That is a sign of starvation. It is one of the body's last tactics for survival before giving up. He was only 6, soon to be 7. That was so long ago. He has survived so long since then. He was able to receive nutrition through an NG tube thanks to the charity's work. An unfortunate side effect of that life-saving nutrition is that the orphanage needed to tie his hands or swaddle him to keep him from pulling that tube out. Most orphanages and institutions don't have anyone on staff willing or capable of replacing a tube like that. When we were there the orphanage's doctor on staff was actually a retired dentist.

Denzel was saved. He smiled! He laughed and watched everything around him. He is a clever boy inside, underneath all of the sedatives and medications and starvation and profound neglect. He is alive inside his body. Can you imagine being trapped in a crib, left to starve and rot, just because you can't make your body work the way you want it to? That has been Denzel's entire life. He deserves so much more.

But then he was transferred again. This sweet boy is fading too fast. He is losing weight again. His light is going out. He would need a family urgently even if he wasn't aging out, but he is. He has less than 5 months to find a family.

Denzel needed a family years ago, but no family came. So he needs the next best thing. He needs a family today. He has no hope at his current orphanage. He needs special formula instead of the typical diet these kids are being fed, but it is more expensive than the government allots for a child's food budget. There is a charity who would provide it, but none are allowed in right now. Denzel will be adopted or he will die. Those are the only possible outcomes right now.

I can't imagine this boy who is so special to so many people being left behind. I want so badly for a family to come for him and bring him home and help him smile again. He has been pulled back from the brink before. It could happen again. But it needs to happen soon.

Please share Denzel. He is eligible for a $10,000 older child grant toward adoption expenses. You can email childinquiry@reecesrainbow.org for more information. He needs a family to mail in immigration paperwork and fees before his 16th birthday. His country requires married couples and for at least one parent to be 15 years older than him.

Denzel is one of many aging out children I have shared and he is also one of the kids I have posted in the Bedridden Project, but he is so much more than that to me. I have watched him and smiled with him and posted about him in the hope that he would find his family. But he is still waiting. Please help Denzel find his family. Soon it will be too late, one way or another.