Virtually every child under the care of Starfish will require surgery. Amanda de Lange, working with provincial orphanage officials, seeks babies that are in desperate need of immediate medical care. The most common medical issues are related to spina bifida, cleft lip and palette, and cardiac concerns.

Once a baby arrives at Starfish, the staff employs a disciplined nutritional program to increase body weight and strengthen the immune system to prepare for surgery. During this time, Amanda schedules and pays for the procedure. She also travels with each baby for the surgery, often staying by his or her side at the hospital until everyone is well enough to return to Xi'an.

Starfish is responsible for all aspects of post-operative care for each baby who has left the hospital. This includes changing bandages, ensuring that prescription medicines such as antibiotics are taken, and completing any required follow-up visits. It may even require hours of feeding a baby using an eye dropper!

The recovery of each child is tracked, with special attention given to signs of complications following the procedure. When possible, these medical records are provided to adoptive parents.

In addition to post-operative treatment, children living at Starfish receive the care offered through our baby wellness program.

We strive to provide a clean, warm and loving environment for all the babies residing at Starfish. Our baby wellness program includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Access to an infant or toddler nutrition program designed to promote physical and mental growth
• Comprehensive caregiving via a staff of paid nannies  responsible for feeding, bathing, dressing specific children
• Detailed medical charting for each child, including tracking of body weight, height, key medical issues, prescription history.

Once a baby is brought to Starfish, that baby will stay at Starfish until he or she is adopted. On average, this means that each baby will live at the foster home until the age of 18 to 24 months. As a result, the Starfish staff works hard to foster an environment that is safe, clean, and encourages development.

Starfish Foster Home typically has 18-20 children under its roof at one time. There are nine full-time nannies, providing a very good child to caregiver ratio of approximately 2:1. Each nanny works regularly with certain children to not only create a bond, but to better learn that child's special health needs and associated behaviors.

In addition to the regular tasks of caring for each child, the nannies often take the older children outside to the neighborhood playground.

The ultimate goal at Starfish is for each child in our care to be adopted as quickly as possible. Since Starfish opened its doors, we have experienced the joy of knowing that nearly 20 Starfish babies have been adopted by loving families.

Starfish works closely with the provincial orphanages to ensure that all crticial papework is in place to ethically facilitate an adoption on a timely basis. It is important to note that Starfish is neither affiliated with any adoption agency, nor does it play any role between the orphange and a potential adoptive family.