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Garden of Hope

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Everything posted by Garden of Hope

  1. Tina, That's really neat! Is there any way we could read the article and do a happy dance for Jay as well?
  2. It sure is nice to have a cheering section! Thanks y'all!
  3. Monday I was called into my supervisor's office. I had no idea what it was about. Upon arriving, she gave me my Item Developer's Certificate. Phew! To earn the certificate, one must work for the company for 1 year, at the end of one year, take an exam, then in the next year submit a portfolio of work showing items edited and items written (A total of 40 items). The portfolio is then assessed by two senior members of the company. AND I DID IT! And I have the paper to prove it.
  4. Your grandchildren are very lucky to have you close and actively involved in their daily lives. Keep on posting Amma Pine. You're great!
  5. Welcome Amma Pine! Abrazo is a family affair so please come on in, make yourself comfy and post away! Jean
  6. A Christmas miracle indeed. Congratulations to the new parents of the special baby boy who was meant to be their son! May God comfort his birthmom as she grieves his absence.
  7. Karen, That's awesome news!!! The WHOLE family together for Christmas. Someone is monitoring the forum from above! Don't feel bad, keep posting!!!
  8. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the official announcement and the official names of Teeny and Tiny. The wait was well worth it, of course. Heartfelt congratulations to the newest abrazo family. I am so excited for you! You got the best Christmas gifts ever!!
  9. I'm not sure if this fits here or not, but found it interesting. It does speak to "picking and choosing" of a different sort. The TimesDecember 15, 2007 Designer baby fear over heart gene test Mark Henderson, Science Editor A British couple have won the right to test embryos for a gene that leads to high cholesterol levels and an increased risk of heart attacks, The Times has learnt. The decision by the fertility watchdog will reopen controversy over the ethics of designer babies, as it allows doctors to screen embryos for a condition that is treatable with drugs and can be influenced by lifestyle as well as genes. While the procedure is designed to detect a rare version of a disease called familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), which often kills children before puberty, it will also identify a milder form that can be controlled by drugs and diet. Critics argue that the test will allow couples to destroy embryos that would have had a good chance of becoming children with fulfilling and reasonably healthy lives. Related Links Designer baby to beat risk of Alzheimer’s Babies to be 'designed' to escape breast cancer The test will also create an unprecedented moral dilemma for some couples, as it could show that they have produced no embryos completely unaffected by the disease. This would force them to decide whether to implant embryos that they know have a genetic risk of premature heart disease and death, or to throw them away and deny them a chance of life. Britain’s first licence to test embryos for FH will be awarded next week to Paul Serhal, of University College Hospital in London, by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Its decision breaks new ground because it permits Mr Serhal to screen out not only the severe form of the condition but also the milder type, which is usually treatable. Embryo screening has previously been approved only for disorders in which a gene invariably causes a serious disease, or for conditions such as breast cancer in which mutations carry an 80 per cent lifetime risk. FH occurs in two forms. The more common version, heterozygous FH, affects 1 in 500 people. It is caused by a single mutated gene, which raises cholesterol and thus the risk of hardened arteries, heart disease and stroke. It can usually be managed with statin drugs and diet. One in 250,000 people inherits two defective copies of the gene and develops homozygous FH, which is much more serious. Sufferers show severely elevated cholesterol from the age of 5, and can suffer angina by 6 or 7. Many die in childhood, and most have suffered at least one heart attack by the end of their twenties. Mr Serhal’s patients, who are in their thirties, both have the milder heterozygous FH. They discovered their status only when they had a daughter, now 5, with the homozygous form, and they also have an unaffected son. They said yesterday that they were delighted. “We had no idea that we both carried a gene for high cholesterol until the double gene was expressed in our first child. We are very lucky that our child has responded so well to the very high-dose drug regime. We have been led to understand that other children with the same double gene may not be so lucky.” The couple, who approached Mr Serhal after learning that he was offering the pre-implantation genetic diagnosis test for a breast cancer gene, will have IVF next month, even though they are naturally fertile. A single cell will be removed from each embryo at the eight-cell stage, and be tested for defective FH genes. Any that have homozygous FH will be discarded. The test will also determine whether the remaining embryos are completely clear of FH, or whether they have the heterozygous form. There may be none that are unaffected, leaving the couple with a difficult ethical decision. Mr Serhal said: “This obnoxious disease can cause cardiovascular accidents at a very young age. Ideally, we will find embryos with no FH genes, but it is possible we will not and it will be up to the patients to choose. Some people would think twice about using embryos that they know have a risky gene, and others would say you shouldn’t screen out a condition that can be managed so people can live with it. It will be an awkward choice.” Mr Serhal said that the HFEA had also indicated that it would be prepared to sanction screening for the milder form of FH alone for couples in which one partner was a carrier and the other was not, though he was not yet proposing to do such screening. Have your say While it it admirable that the parents wish to keep their child from suffering with the severe form of high cholesterol, isn't it pathetic that people think that life is not worth living if one is born with a high cholesterol disorder? Think of it. Here is the couple with the child who has the severe form of high cholesterol and they are controlling the disease well and the child is doing quite well. They would be murdering a human being if they took away their child's life. However, if an embryo, who would grow to be genetically similar to their child, were alive they would be allowed to kill that child who is simply at an earlier stage of growth. This is total lunacy! To characterize human life as valuable or not because the person has a disease, is like a life made up of waiting around for one's genetically predisposed diseases to manifest themselves. If this is what a scientifically examined life and scientifically prudential decisions entail they are monsterous values.
  10. WOW, is almost all I can say. I wonder what Amanda's thoughts would be about adoption.
  11. Very interesting and obvious points, Elizabeth. And the cause marches on.
  12. WOW! BIG BLESSINGS to the THREE new ABRAZO Families! Count them, three! God is good all the time. God is good all the time. God is good all the time!!!! I'm so very happy for all the new parents and the new family of 4!
  13. God Bless each part of this adoption triad and those close to them as they begin their new family relationship. Congratulations.
  14. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
  15. God, Please continue your watchful care of this loving mommy and her beautiful children. She is hurting and needs the help of a family who will love her children as their own and her as a member of the family. I pray that you move people's hearts to see things in your way so that a larger, grander family may be formed. After all, that's in your plan. Thank you lord for all the blessings you give us each day. Give the mommy a clear vision and peace in her decisions. Give the Abrazo ladies strength and perservence as they meet apparent road blocks to placing these precious children. And speak to the family of YOUR choice for this mommy and her children. AMEN
  16. I know someone in NY, but I recently found out that Abrazo does not work in the state of NY. What a shame. These found dearly want to start a family and would be wonderful parents.
  17. Home study ready, parents in waiting?
  18. Positively meant to be. Congratulations Keith, Erika, Briton, and the birthmom and baby, too!
  19. Elizabeth, You sure do know how to "put things". What a wonderful announcement. Congratulations to the newest Abrazo family and the birth family that made it all possible. YES! Come to Texas OFTEN! Invite us all over to admire the newest abrzo babe!!! Congratulations, congratulations. What a wonderful, loving and life changing event. Blessings to all.
  20. What a wonderful family photo! Congratulations again and again!
  21. Congratulations to the Nita, Walker, Camille, and the birthfamily as they all welcome a blessing from above.
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