AFTER years of battling with her body, 12 miscarriages and one ectopic pregnancy, Kimble Genis and her husband, Gideon, decided to adopt.
The adoption process in South Africa is a costly and tedious one. The couple, who have been married for six years, were matched, mismatched and unmatched to babies numerous times, each time getting their hopes up.
Eventually, the couple became parents to a little boy, Micah. Several months later, it was discovered that Micah was very sick and had been since birth.
“My mom, who’s a qualified nurse, detected some inconsistencies in his clinic card and alerted us to her concerns which lead us to having Micah checked out. We were called the day after he turned two last month, informing us of his situation and the results of his medical check,” Kimble said.
Micah was diagnosed with a life-long, life-debilitating disease. Due to the high costs involved with Micah’s medical treatment, Kimble and Gideon could not afford to keep him.
“Micah’s needs came first. We needed to get him immediate medical help which on our own would cost about R50000 just to start. We honestly don’t have that kind of money,” Kimble said.
“Knowing that the state would look after his medical needs and legally being obligated to give him the care he needed, we signed the consent form to have him returned to the children’s home so he could start him medical treatment with immediate effect.”
From the beginning of the adoption process, Kimble and Gideon requested a healthy child with no special needs as they can not afford the costs required for a special needs child.
Micah was returned to the children’s home, with Kimble and Gideon’s consent as a result of this original request.
Micah’s adoption file was therefore incorrect and an investigation needed to take place as to why his health problems were never detected or dealt with. This process could take months, if not years.
Kimble and Gideon are desperate for a child of their own and while they’d love to bring Micah home, his medical bills, throughout his life will be astronomical.
“Should we take on Micah with his illness we’d need around R30000 every three months to cover his needs,” Kimble said.
Kimble and Gideon are attempting to go through the adoption process again and are asking friends, family and the public to help them raise the funds needed.
The couple, through their good friend Cate Bonthuys, have started a Go Fund Me page, dedicated to telling their story and urging the community to help in any way possible.
“We tried going through [child] welfare, but for two years we were matched and unmatched various times and never got anywhere. Within a week with a private social worker, we were matched with Micah and the adoption process was started,” Kimble said.
“Though the Go Fund Me page has raised a bit already, we’d need at least R30000 to go through the adoption process again,” Kimble said.
Despite going through the adoption process again, it is not guaranteed that they will be able to adopt Micah again, they may have to adopt another child.
“Gideon and I have found out through the whole process that R30000 is not even for the most expensive private social worker out there. We were once quoted R120000,” Kimble said.
For anyone interested in helping Kimble and Gideon please visit their Go Fund Me page at www.gofundme.com/please-help-gideon-kimble-adopt or contact Kimble at kimble.hart@gmail.com
