The couple has named their youngest daughter Naina Hope Mylius.

It is said that not all families are based on blood relations. Nothing embodies this more than Johonna Jo Mylius and her husband Shane Michael Mylius. The Texas couple faced lengthy paperwork, visa issues, and pandemic restrictions for more than two years to finish their daughter’s adoption process.

The Mylius’s wanted to adopt a second child after the birth of their daughter Kaila. Their search brought them to India where they matched with Naina in October 2019 when she was just 18 months old. Naina was a premature baby and was hearing-impaired. She was abandoned in a newborn intensive care unit. However, her medical complications did not stop Mylius from going ahead with the adoption.

They were set to obtain Naina’s custody in March 2020 but then the whole world went under a lockdown due to Covid-19 and all operations were put on hold. After anxiously waiting for many months, they got Naina’s custody in December 2020 and were set to travel to India in February 2021 to receive their daughter.

Unfortunately, a week before they were set to leave for India, it snowed too much in Texas that put all operations at a halt. The couple was yet to receive their visa from the Indian consulate. Explaining the precarious situation, Johonna Mylius wrote in an essay published on Love What Matters, “We were set to fly out of Houston on Wednesday. Saturday and Sunday, it snowed and no mail was delivered. Monday was President’s Day so, no mail was running. Tuesday, roads still icy, we were out of electricity at home, phone lines were down, and the Indian consulate wasn’t answering.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 26, 2022 – The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), partnered nonprofit to the Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCA), is pleased to welcome Angelique Salizan as the organization’s Policy Director. As of January 31, she will lead CCAI’s government relations, education, and advocacy strategies in domestic and international child welfare, permanency, and adoption policy.

“There are various challenges when it comes to addressing the needs of children and families. I am eager to build on the established advocacy and policy efforts at CCAI. My priority is to collaborate with Members of Congress, child welfare leaders, and impacted voices to holistically resource and educate the caucus on nonpartisan policies to ensure children all over the world have a permanent, safe, and loving family,” said Angelique Salizan, CCAI Policy Director. “I look forward to reconnecting with Members of Congress and their staff as well as forge new relationships with congressional partners and the community to address policy challenges and opportunities.”

Prior to joining CCAI, Angelique’s work in child welfare advocacy, policy, and reform dates back to 2013 when she participated in a New York State campaign advocating for support services for foster youth pursuing a higher education with the Children’s Aid Society, a program that is still in existence today. These efforts led to an internship and career working for the United States Senate as a congressional staff member.

In fact, Angelique was first introduced to CCAI through her participation in the 2015 Foster Youth Internship Program® where she worked as a congressional intern with the United States Senate Committee on Finance. Angelique is a published author in CCAI’s Embracing Our Past, Empowering Their Future: Why Child Welfare Reform Matters on the topic of closing the educational gap for foster youth by addressing the need for educational-vocational specialists.

Angelique has a wealth of policy experience and is skilled in facilitation, community and outreach engagement, public advocacy campaigns, government and constituent relations, and has been successful at coalition and capacity building among youth, personnel, and leaders in the child welfare community locally and nationally. Her career includes roles with the offices of U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (OR) and Debbie Stabenow (MI) – both members of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption – as well as U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (OH).

A teenage boy in China, who was sold as a baby only to be ditched again when he sought out his biological parents years later, has apparently committed suicide, the South China Morning Post reported in the latest shocking development.

Overdosed

Liu Xuezhou, 17, reportedly overdosed and died early Monday morning, Jan. 24, after he consumed a vast quantity of anti-depressants, which were prescribed to him for over a year, according to The Global Times.

He had left behind a 10,000-word suicide note posted on Weibo, where the last words were written 2 minutes after midnight on Monday morning.

Police searched for him after being alerted by the public

This video posted by the Instagram page of Humans of Bombay shows how a couple beat all odds to adopt their younger daughter, Naina, from India.

Videos that show how people make their adopted children are always very emotional and heart-warming to watch. This video that was recently shared by the Instagram page of Humans of Bombay shows exactly that kind of a story. In it, viewers can see how a couple adopted their sweet daughter from India.

The father, Shane Michael Mylius and the mother, Johonna Jo Mylius - shared about their adoption journey in this video. The couple already had a daughter but decided to adopt another one from India. After two years of talking to agencies here, they got to know of a little, hearing impaired girl named Naina. And deep down, they knew immediately that this was their daughter.

When they finally came to India and met their child, the duo teared up when they finally got custody. The caption that accompanies this adorable video reads, “You don't have to share the same DNA to be family!” The video was complete with the information that not only is Naina enjoying her life with her new family but also, her older sister loves her a lot.

Since being posted on Instagram around an hour ago, this video has already received 31,000 likes. It has also received several comments from Instagram users who found this video way too adorable.

MUMBAI: As the final season of the web series 'What The Folks' shows that the lead couple of the story played by Eisha Chopra and Veer Rajwant Singh opts for child adoption and face questions from their family and society, Veer opens up with his opinion on the matter.

According to IANS, Veer said "I think it is high time we as a society should change our attitude and mind conditioning towards children adoption and make it more inclusive because, at the end of the day, it is an individual's choice. There are two things, firstly adopting a child is not a backup that we earlier used to consider. Earlier it was looked as an option for those couples who do not have a child. Also, who is the biological parents of a child was always a talking point. That should be changed because once the child is born, everything boils down to the upbringing that they get."

"From a parents' end, one can give as much love as possible to any child. The problem starts when society singles out children as 'adopted children'. That could hurt the mind of a child even after getting love and affection from the parents."

He further added, "Another point I want to make here on changing attitude is, we should stop thinking that we are doing a favour to a child by adopting and giving a family status. Then that child, when becoming a grown-up man or woman, lives with a bitter feeling that once he/she was unwanted and some family, with generosity, has done some favour by giving a life. No, that is wrong."

The actor said that young couples, on the other hand, should also not face judgment of the society that if they are opting for adoption that means they cannot have their biological child. "I am hopeful that the more we continue the conversation regarding this, we will open our minds and make the place more inclusive for us." The show 'What The Folks : Season 4' is a Dice media original that is also featuring - Anula Navlekar, Nitesh Pandey, Deepika Amin among others.

The true story of an Italian girl with a terrifying past who knew how to get out of hell and who today is a volunteer in Africa among street children. "In their eyes I see the same nightmares I experienced when I was little"

by Marco Trovat

"Street children have invisible scars, their gaze is a mask that hides terrible suffering ... I know that pain all too well." Melissa has caramel skin, a cascade of black hair on her shoulders, a sparkling smile, two eyes as deep as the abyss they have seen.

Born in Colombia 25 years ago, she grew up on the streets of Girardot and Bogotá. "My father, disabled from a stroke, died too soon," she confides. "My mother used to drink and prostitute herself."

Talk like you're telling a movie plot. Instead it is her life and that of her four brothers. “We were left alone, the street was the place of freedom. We had no rules or schedules. Social services opened the doors of the orphanage for us. Then we ended up in a foster family that took care of us with insults and belts ».

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Narender has held five persons guilty in a case involving an interstate child trafficking racket busted by the UT police in 2020.

The court will pronounce the quantum of the sentence on January 27. Those held guilty are Amarjit Singh, a constable in the Punjab Police and residing in Kharar, Mandeep Singh, a resident of Punjab, ASHA workers Kuldeep Kaur of Patiala and Sarabjit Kaur of Sangrur, and Bhawna, also a resident of Punjab, but putting up in a rented accommodation in Burail.

The police had arrested them near the Airport light point on August 3, 2020.

After finding them prima facie guilty, the court framed charges against them for the commission of the offences punishable under Section 370 and 120-B of the IPC and Section 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act-2015, to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

As per the prosecution, the suspects used to sell a girl child at a price between Rs80,000 and Rs1 lakh and a boy for around Rs4 lakh. The gang was active in Punjab and Delhi.

NAVI MUMBAI: The Nerul Police have arrested a husband-wife duo staying on the pavement outside Nerul railway station for allegedly selling their two newborn girls to two women for Rs 90,000 each in 2019. A complaint was lodged on Wednesday after a legal officer who learnt about the "illegal" adoption alerted the police.

A police officer also said that they have learnt that the parents had similarly sold their newborn son or given him up for adoption earlier.

The two buyer women, aged 60 years and 35 residing in Belapur and Mankhurd have been made accused persons in the case for allegedly illegally adopting the newborns.

API Rajendra Ghevdekar said, "As of now, we have arrested only the accused couple for selling their newborn girls. The two women who purchased the newborns have not been arrested but served a notice due to which they will have to remain present in court when summoned."

Ghevdekar further said, "The incident came to light after the Child Protection Officer of Thane district's Women and Child Development department, Thane, lodged a complaint at Nerul police station on Wednesday. The mother of the newborns revealed the name the buyer from Belapur who had bought the infant for Rs 90,000. The mother claimed that her husband had sold the newborn to the Belapur woman as they needed money and were unable to feed their four other children.

‘Don’t want to see me anymore? See you in court’: Chinese teenager sold at birth by parents sues them for deserting him again after reunion

Liu asked his parents to help him financially but they quickly had a falling-out over money

His parents say they are not well-off and his father even claimed it was his adoptive family’s responsibility to provide for Liu

A young man from northern China whose parents sold him at birth and refused a relationship with him after he recently found them has now vowed to take the case to court.

Liu Xuezhou, a 17-year-old college student in Hebei province, northern China, said on Thursday that he is suing his birth parents for abandoning him twice after reuniting with them a few weeks ago with the help of police.

A former bookkeeper for an international adoption agency who stole more than $1.6 million from her employer and her own family was sentenced Wednesday to four and a half years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez said he considered that the fraud spanned about eight years and affected multiple victims. He said he also took into account the COVID-19 pandemic as a mitigating factor when deciding his sentence.

Melodie Ann Eckland, 56, of Hillsboro pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, filing a false tax return and willfully failing to collect or pay payroll taxes.

She was also ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution.

The illegal scheme was discovered in March 2018, when one of the owners of the Journeys of the Heart adoption and surrogacy agency received a call from a Premier Community Bank representative inquiring about several business checks that had been presented for payment with a signature of the owner that appeared to be forged, according to prosecutors.