It’s been a challenging journey for nine-year-old Caroline, but ultimately one that has resulted in lots of happiness and love.
She was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and in the first three years moved from her biological parents to a place of safety. Thereafter, she found her way to a foster family and it’s here that she first made her way into the life – and heart – of Belinda, who contacted Hot Cares with her story.
Belinda’s brother and sister-in-law were Caroline’s foster parents and that led to Belinda becoming her godmother.
“Unfortunately, my sister-in-law is not in good health and the two of them made the decision to move to the UK for medical treatment seven years ago,” said Belinda. “My brother, at the time, was starting his own company and couldn’t look after a baby, and therefore Caroline came to us. All legal procedures were followed and she officially became our foster daughter in 2016.”
Belinda also has two grown boys in their 20s, but Caroline has obviously become a big part of her life and she has embraced being a mother to a small child once again.
“Over the last seven years she has been settled, happy and thriving,” said Belinda. “We now have the opportunity to adopt Caroline and make the family official.”
But, it’s not that simple and the adoption process is costly and time-consuming.
“We just cannot pass up on this opportunity, but now we need to raise the funds in order to get the process done,” said Belinda. “It’s roughly R20 000 and whilst I know this is not a lot of money to some people, it’s a huge amount to us. But, the sooner we pay, the sooner we can get started.”
Belinda has met with a social worker/adoption lawyer and she assured her that she could apply for legal adoption and hopefully have it finalised before the end of the year.
“What a Christmas gift that would be!” said Belinda.
Here at Hot Cares, we couldn’t agree more! That’s why we’re going to stump up for the legal fees for adoption, to the value of R20 000! But, we want to make the process even more special for Belinda, Caroline and the family, so Hot Cares will also be treating them to an overnight stay at Gold Reef City to celebrate the adoption, including a day at the theme park!
Lastly, the icing on the cake – Hot Cares will also be paying for a first official family photo shoot!
We hope these interventions go some way to ensuring the process is a happy and smooth one.
Similarly, if you are a prospective partner of Hot Cares, or if you are in a position to donate towards making a meaningful difference, or have a story to alert us to, or a programme you’d like to partner with Hot Cares on, please get in touch with us by emailing [email protected].
