Mille- Meet the Browns

 Today I'm sharing about a family that has just adopted a 15 year old severely handicapped daughter from Ukraine.  

Both of these children are 15 years old.....

This is the family's story in their own words.  

We are the Browns! We are a family of 14 hoping to add one more to our crazy, wonderful life. Daniel and Svetlana met in Russia. Daniel was serving there as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After a year of being back in the United States, Daniel asked Svetlana to come here and be his wife. They have been married for over 22 years and have 12 amazing children ages: 5, 8, 9, 9, 12, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 20, 25.

Daniel is the oldest of 10 children. So, a big family is not a big deal to him. Daniel is also a high school teacher, and a Robotics Club Coach. Which, of course, helps in dealing with lots of children and the chaos that can ensue.

Svetlana grew up in Russia and is an only child. She always dreamed of a big family and adopting from an orphanage. She has taken several medical classes to help prepare her for the special needs of each child.

Their children are excited to have new siblings to love. Although the three oldest children are out of the home; They come back to visit, and help out, as often as possible. All of the children enjoy being able to love, work with, and watch the development of those less fortunate. They are looking forward to the great service of compassion that they will be able to give these special children.

They got through the whole exhausting process of court and adoption  only to find their legally adopted daughter is unable to come into the US because she has a suspicious  spot on her lungs which could be TB or something else.  They now how to wait two months for her to be allowed to come in and she must have more testing  (DISCLAIMER this is NOT a new policy so do not blame President Trump.  This policy has been inn place for decades!)  

In the meanwhile the family has to return to the US because they have other children and work.  They were able to find a private hospital that will take her and care for her.  This hospital has taken other such cases in the past and have successfully cared for them and begun the healing process and refeeding.

More of their story

After working on our adoption for over a year we finally got an invitation to Ukraine to meet our child. We were going to meet a little 3 year old boy. A week or so before we left for Ukraine a little girl was tagging on my heart…..a little girl...no, a young women…..she supposed to be 15 years, but in reality she was a size of a 3 year and maybe 20 pounds…….how can it be…...how can she still be alive? After arriving in Ukraine and a week of quarantine and DAP appointment we drove 4 hours to meet our new daughter. She was tiny, she was drugged and so contracted that holding her was almost impossible. Her eyes were so sad, years of neglect and abuse were all over her face. Her tiny hands were so deformed it was painful just to see them. It didn't take much thinking to say yes to her because we both knew she needed to get out and be saved from that place. We said “yes” to her and a month long wait for court began. In 30 days we finally had our court and in that instance she became our beloved daughter and sister. Within a few hours after the court decree was signed she was in my arms forever…….that's what I thought anyways…....but the bureaucracy of the government put a stop to a happy ending pretty quickly…...Few days after we got Millie we had to do a medical exam that every person that enters the USA must have. Our sweet little girl failed her x-ray by having a small dark spot on her lungs and now has to have a Sputum TB test done which takes 8 weeks to complete. We were heartbroken, how can it be? A new plan needed to be made quickly. I have been gone for 7 weeks already and our children at home were ready to have their mama home. With the help of several amazing people we were able to find a room for MIllie at palliative children hospital in Kiev. It was absolutely devastating to leave her and go home without her, but I knew she was going to be safe there. She now has an amazing nanny Elena with her 24/7. Millie has been out of the orphanage for 20 days and she has changed so much already. Where there was sadness in her eyes, no there is now light. She is so happy, she is learning so much. She is learning that no one will hurt her, that she doesn't have to be hungry anymore. She will always be clean…..and most of all she will always be loved. We cant wait to see her again and bring her home FOREVER!!!

Nanny $20/day Formula $15/day Food for nanny $5/day Medications???

We can help this precious family by giving to pay for her daily needs.  The cost for a daily nanny- someone who will work with her is only $20 a day.  The cost of her formula is only $15 daily!  So for $35 a day she can be cared for until the family is able to bring her home.   So I'm asking for your help!

I've committed to pay for her care for one week!  That's only $250- she'll need at least 7 more weeks....you can give by going to the family's paypal account svetabrown@gmail.com or if you are like me and still not comfortable with giving online, you can mail a check to: 

the Brown family

301 University Ave 

Gooding ID 83330

Please help meet this need!  Thank you!