Even though the size of Chrisno's head did not decrease, as hoped after the surgery and would not get any smaller, Chrisno had improved a lot. Unfortunately Chrisno’s reunion didn’t go well with his biological parents. They stated they just could not provide for Chrisno in his condition and they would have to place him in an orphanage. We fell in love with this little boy, cared deeply for him, and didn’t want to see him go to an orphanage. We explained the situation to our boys and asked them what they thought of us adopting Chrisno and he would become their little brother. Without hesitation, they said, "Yes"! We knew that an orphanage could not provide him with the attention he would require with his special needs, physical and mental development delays, and visual impairments. We had been told that a child like Chrisno would not survive in an orphanage and we knew that we could provide him with a loving family.
Chrisno stayed with a family in Haiti for four months while we worked on getting the adoption paperwork completed. Chrisno had to come back to the United States for medical treatment and we were able to be his host family, once again. During that time, it became evident that the adoption process was going to be very complicated, expensive, and was not guaranteed to bring the end result of Chrisno joining our family. I began to get very scared and wonder if we were doing the right thing. I came to the conclusion that I knew God had brought Chrisno here for a reason and we had to do everything possible for him. Around that time, I read this quote: “Doing what is necessary makes things possible, then you find yourself doing the impossible. God doesn’t ask us to be successful just faithful.”
The lawyer who was going to help us pursue the adoption advised us to begin in January of 2010 - then the earthquake hit. Although Chrisno was safe in the United States, we didn't know if his parents had survived. We knew they wanted Chrisno to be adopted by our family, but they would need to be found so they could sign their consent. It wasn't until May that we heard that they had survived the devastation in Haiti and we could move forward and complete the adoption process.
Chrisno has been with us for 3 years except when he went back to Haiti for 4 months. Chrisno is doing so well and he now attends school in a special education class 4 days a week and receives OT, PT, and ST in addition to the therapy he receives at home. He can now crawl, pull himself up to a kneeling position and has started to say words and phrases. We have started him in piano lessons because of his love of music and we feel this is one thing he can excel at. He wakes every morning about 5:30 a.m. singing, laughing, clapping his hands and cheering for himself - he is full of joy! My husband and I lie in bed and laugh at him, thinking what a way to start the day. We're so glad that we listened to God's voice and are so proud of all four of our boys!
My youngest son and I have written a children’s book telling how Chrisno became part of the family called My Little Brother Chrisno. The book is for educational purposes teaching children about adoption, bringing awareness to Angel Missions Haiti and their good works, and is to be used as a ministry tool to spread God's Word. 25% of all proceeds from book sales will go to AMH.
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