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All expecting parents hope their child will be born free of complications. However, for some families things don’t go so well and the celebration of the miracle of birth is coloured by the challenge of having to cope with a disabled child and the inevitable difficulties that lie ahead.

Jasmine is a beautiful little girl with some big challenges ahead

Before Jasmine was born there was fluid that put pressure on her brain preventing it from proper growth. Just after she was born her life expectancy was predicted to be short as Jasmine had multiple disabilities.

It is very sad, but some parents are unable to cope and Jasmine was put up for adoption. In this situation, children like Jasmine can at best hope to be placed in permanent care. The reality is that children with severe disabilities are hard to find care for.

Meet Judy and Peter – our unsung heroes

Judy and her husband, Peter, are very special people and want to share their experience. This amazing couple had already raised five children (including a foster daughter and adopted son) as well as adopting two children with disabilities. They responded to an advertisement by Centacare’s Adoption and Permanent Care Unit in Melbourne.

They were introduced to Jasmine and her plight. Jasmine was the most severely disabled child they had ever dealt with so understandably they were unsure at first. Centacare’s Adoption and Permanent Care Unit organised the adoption of Jasmine including the general application, police check, medical check and interviews with social workers to ensure that they were ready for their challenge ahead.

Judy and Peter consider each year with Jasmine – a gift

Jasmine has a wonderful smile, a wicked sense of humour, and is now 11. Jasmine has significant disabilities. She cannot speak but has remarkable comprehension and understands everything that is said.

Each year is considered a gift by her family because Jasmine was not thought to have a long life. However, they were unprepared for the needs of a growing child with such severe disabilities. Because Jasmine is adopted, rather than in permanent care, the responsibility falls on the adoptive family to figure out where to get money to take care of Jasmine. Judy and Peter have had to be resourceful, finding money from various sources in order to pay for basic equipment such as a hospital bed, wheel chair, shower chair and toilet not to mention the costs associated with trips back and forth from their home to Melbourne.

The continuing role of Centacare

Centacare provides families such as Jasmine’s with material support. Centacare also provides other ongoing support including counselling and forwarding of correspondence to and from adopted children and biological families.

Life is looking brighter for Jasmine

Jasmine recently had surgery to correct her scoliosis. Judy and Peter are confident about Jasmine’s future and she is now enrolled in primary school with the assistance of an aide. Jasmine will need ongoing speech therapy and computer assisted learning.

Who knows where Jasmine might be today if it hadn’t been for Judy and Peter. They are both an inspiration and are unfazed about caring for this child for the rest of her life. There is a quiet confidence in them that says they know everything will work out if they take it one day at a time. Judy and Peter are prepared for the sacrifices their family will make, now and in the future, for the daughter they love.

Centacare is a unique organisation

Centacare has been providing special services for the community for over 70 years. We focus on helping children, families and those individuals who are at most risk in our community. We offer services like:

• Family and Relationship Counselling
• Drug and Alcohol Support and Education
• Relationship Education
• Adoption and Permanent Care
• ACCESS (Employee Assistance Programs)
• Loss and Grief Counselling
• Pastoral Services (Chaplaincy Ministries)
• Refugee Support and Education
• Student Counselling and Education
• Personal Support Program for the long term unemployed

Please support the Giving Hope Appeal

We are only partially funded by government and therefore need to ask you for your help in giving hope and encouragement to children and families going through difficult times and issues.

Thank you for reading Jasmine’s story and thank you for your support of the Giving Hope Appeal.

With every best wish,

Fr Joe Caddy
Chief Executive Officer

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