When Wisconsin National Guardsman Scott Southworth deployed to Iraq with his military police unit in 2003, he did not expect to find himself caught in a web of miracles.
In September of that year he visited an orphanage in Baghdad with his unit, and there he met nine-year-old Ala'a Eddeen, who suffers from cerebral palsy and weighed just 55 pounds.
Southworth made frequent visits to the orphanage, and he and Ala'a grew close. When he learned that his young friend would soon be placed in a government-run facility where he would "stare at a blank wall for the rest of his life," Southworth decided to adopt him.
He had to overcome many obstacles to adopt Ala'a. Iraqi law prohibits foreigners from adopting Iraqi children. He was unmarried, did not own a home, worked long hours at his job, and knew nothing about caring for a disabled child. He also had to wade through the complicated bureaucracy of the U.S. Immigration Service, whose rules made it almost impossible to bring Ala'a into the country.
But Southworth persisted until finally in January 2005 he received word that his request to bring Ala'a to the United States had been approved. Ala'a arrived in Wisconsin on January 20, where he saw snow for the first time in his life. On June 4, 2005 his adoption was finalized and Southworth and Ala'a became father and son.
Southworth persisted in his efforts because he believed that Ala'a desperately needed someone not just to feel sorry for him but to actually do something about it. But he insists that Ala'a picked him, not the other way around. They were brought together, he believes, by a web of miracles.
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In September of that year he visited an orphanage in Baghdad with his unit, and there he met nine-year-old Ala'a Eddeen, who suffers from cerebral palsy and weighed just 55 pounds.
Southworth made frequent visits to the orphanage, and he and Ala'a grew close. When he learned that his young friend would soon be placed in a government-run facility where he would "stare at a blank wall for the rest of his life," Southworth decided to adopt him.
He had to overcome many obstacles to adopt Ala'a. Iraqi law prohibits foreigners from adopting Iraqi children. He was unmarried, did not own a home, worked long hours at his job, and knew nothing about caring for a disabled child. He also had to wade through the complicated bureaucracy of the U.S. Immigration Service, whose rules made it almost impossible to bring Ala'a into the country.
But Southworth persisted until finally in January 2005 he received word that his request to bring Ala'a to the United States had been approved. Ala'a arrived in Wisconsin on January 20, where he saw snow for the first time in his life. On June 4, 2005 his adoption was finalized and Southworth and Ala'a became father and son.
Southworth persisted in his efforts because he believed that Ala'a desperately needed someone not just to feel sorry for him but to actually do something about it. But he insists that Ala'a picked him, not the other way around. They were brought together, he believes, by a web of miracles.
Read the full story...
