A childless couple from Europe are now the happy parents of a healthy baby boy of Shiloh Place for Abandoned Babies.

"To see the faces of the new parents when they received their adopted baby in Pretoria was a life-changing experience," said social worker Trinette Claassens on December 14.

Claassens was proud that she could be a link in the chain that gave the baby a new home and loving parents. The adoption took place through Abba Adoptions, an organisation of the Apostolic Faith Mission.

The new parents, Stefan and Ulrika, both in their thirties, visited Shiloh Place on the 14th along with their seven-month-old baby.

"We have applied for a baby in our country since 2004. We have waited and waited so long and suddenly it happened. At first it was a strange feeling," Ulrika said. She was feeding the baby some soft baby food, while dad Stefan was enjoying milk tart and koeksisters. When he was through, he took over the feeding so that mom Ulrika could enjoy hers. They have been parents for one and a half weeks. The first day they got "skilled in changing diapers" since baby had a light bout of diarrhoea, but fortunately was fine soon.

"It is wonderful to be parents, much better than we expected. He is such an easy child," said the new parents. Stefan and Ulrika do not want their surname or country of origin to be made known. They are very pleased with their baby, who happens to be of a different race.

"We put South Africa on our list because there are a lot of races, and because English is the main language. We also wanted to work with a Christian agency. We are enjoying South Africa. Maybe when he is grown, we can visit with him to show him his birth country," Ulrika said. The parents planned for a stay of two or three weeks with their baby "so that all the changes in his life would not be so sudden."

The baby adapted very well to his new parents, but during the visit to Shiloh he still seemed to recognise the housemother, Teresa de Beer, the staff and Linda Dunhin, the project manager.

"In the 26 hours prior to the adoption, the baby cried only once," Shiloh’s social worker said.

The adoption is a first for Shiloh Place. Their very first baby arrived in May this year. At present, eight babies are being cared for at the centre. Some are healthy and some are very sick. During the visit, the staff contacted a doctor concerning one of the little ones.

The project is going from strength to strength and the community has accepted Shiloh as their project. At the moment, they are short of cots. Apart form cots, Dunhin say that they would appreciate diapers and Purity vegetables.

"Money, of course, is always more than welcome," said Dunhin, who expressed their gratitude to their regular donors and helpers.