{Prayers for Taiwan} Bringing Life to a Culture of Death

A Culture of Death

Search for “Taiwan + abortion” on Google, and you will find titles like “Taiwan’s Astonishing Abortion Rate,” “Abortions Exceed Births,” and “Taiwan has up to 500,000 Abortions in 2010“–titles that depict a culture where choosing death is an astonishingly ordinary occurrence. Most of these online articles were published in the last six months; in fact, a year or more ago when I learned by word of mouth about Taiwan’s high abortion rate, I could find very little data online about it. This is because until last summer, the most recent statistics were from over a decade ago. But on July 17, professor and pediatrician Lue Hung-chi announced in a public forum that he estimates there are 300,000 to 500,000 abortions every year in Taiwan. One article comments that if his estimate is true, “it has to be one of the highest per-capita abortion rates in the world” (“Taiwan’s Astonishing Abortion Rate“). Lue’s announcement began a long overdue discussion in Taiwan about the low birth rate and high abortion rate of recent years; rightly, these issues are of growing concern and alarm among leaders of the country.

These little ones were given life.   (Photo credit: www.taiwanxien.org)
These little ones were given life. (Photo credit: http://www.taiwanxien.org)

Continue reading “{Prayers for Taiwan} Bringing Life to a Culture of Death”

Our Girl is Going Home

This post is a little tribute to Kara, one of our His Hands Taiwan babies who is going home to be with her forever family this week.  We Hatchlings (i.e. Christel, Sara, and Ashleigh) love all the babies at HH, but every adoption situation is different, and sometimes we get to know a baby better.  Over the past 8+ months, Kara has wiggled her petite little way into our hearts.

From Day 1, Baby Ting-Ting (her name before she was referred to her family) knew how to furrow her brows.  Ashleigh’s favorite question to her has always been, “Why so serious?” Continue reading “Our Girl is Going Home”

A Season of Sacrifice

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Christmas is a time for receiving.  Isn’t that what advertisements tell me constantly when they are trying to convince me that I need the newest/fastest/shiniest/biggest/smallest/greenest _______ (you fill in the blank)?  I do have to say that living in Taiwan and not being able to understand most of the Chinese ads helps a lot with the product-lust that I felt more strongly in the States.  Still, I think when Christmas rolls around I and most of us, if we’re honest, revert back to the ways of childhood list-making for what we want Santa (or Apple, Best Buy, Kohl’s, or Amazon) to give us. Continue reading “A Season of Sacrifice”

A Perspective on Sacrifice

On Sunday morning, I will ride to the high speed rail station with Trena, Holly, and baby Leia to meet Leia’s adoptive parents, David and Kalina.  Holly and Trena are going to let me be the one to hand Leia off to her parents, and I am THRILLED about this as I imagine what joy it will give David and Kalina to finally hold Leia in their arms!  However, I know the moment will be bittersweet since over the past several months, I have spent a lot of one-on-one time with Leia and I have grown to love her. Continue reading “A Perspective on Sacrifice”