Maria's Story

Maria has been abandoned too many times. She was left at a Guatemalan orphanage as a toddler because her parents lacked the financial resources to care for her. At age seven, a Hispanic American family brought her to New York City and adopted her. "My country was beautiful," she recalls fondly, "but they took me away from it on an airplane and decided they didn't want me." Maria's adoptive family gave her up to foster care services shortly after her adoption was finalized. They claimed that the seven-year-old was physically assaultive to their older biological child, destructive to their home, and that she threatened to kill them. She came to Blaine Hall in our Manhattan facility for further diagnostic assessment. "She was a sweet girl," says Sister Teresa, who runs the Blaine Hall diagnostic facility. "We didn't find any of the behavioral problems her family accused her of." Under Sister Teresa's care, Maria flourished and was taken off medications. She stayed at Blaine Hall for two years and her behavior and performance in school continually improved. She was adopted through a slow placement process to ensure she would not go through the emotional strain of abandonment for a third time. Maria is happy in her new home as the only child of a loving couple, but she still visits her "family" at Blaine Hall.

Read more stories