FORTY-FIVE BABIES: A TRUE STORY OF TRIUMPH OVER ADVERSITY, EVERY MOTHER SHOULD READ

FORTY-FIVE BABIES Prologue A bitterly cold night in Soweto and a passerby hears a weak, plaintive cry somewhere nearby. She looks around, spots a dustbin bollard and peers inside. There, loosely wrapped in a plastic garbage bag and lying amongst the trash, is a naked, shivering, newborn baby girl. The woman removes the scarf from her head, gently picks up the tiny, bloodied infant and swaddles her. She snuggles the whimpering child close to her breast and heads for the nearest police station. A few days later the baby is handed to one of many South Africa women who will foster her and provide a Place of Safety until suitable, loving adoptive parents can be found. FORTY-FIVE BABIES is the true story of Lenise Hamilton, one such woman who dedicated sixteen years of her life to foster, one at a time, forty-five of these abandoned babies whose ages ranged from newly born to a few weeks old. The story tells how she nurtures, loves and bonds with each and every child until they become adopted into caring homes. The book is full of amusing, hair raising incidents and anecdotes that will make you laugh, gasp in anxiety and even shed tears. You may weep with Lenise during some poignant moments when difficult decisions are made. The joy and heartache, the hilarity and frustration Lenise experiences during the years she dedicates to this mission is an inspiration to all women; especially those with children and more so, those with adopted children. The story builds to an inspiring climax when, during the fostering of Lara, her forty-fifth child, Lenise has to deal with an immoral court decision that will impact the child’s entire future. At the same time she has to face her own ordeal of a double mastectomy. The episode moves delicately but terrifyingly through the entire operation process then joyfully towards successful reconstructive surgery afterwards. A fulfilling twist to the tale brings the story to a satisfying finale when two single adoptive mothers meet by chance at Lenise’s home. Each woman is accompanied by her own well adjusted and happy nine year old adopted child. By divine and amazing grace most of these lost and discarded children were found and saved. They are among thousands in South Africa and millions worldwide in this heartbreaking, shameful and tragic phenomenon of ABANDONED BABIES.