When she entered the foster-care system, her case-workers though this bright-eyed, happy little girl would be adopted immediately.

Learn why her search has been surprisingly difficult, and how we can give Veronica hope again.

More info: ashiaray.com

Veronica’s documentary was supposed to dispel myths and hesitations about adopting teenage girls

Things didn’t go according to plan. Her story was so much more complex – and more heart-breaking, than they expected.

Veronica turned out to be more than a cute little girl with a bubbly adoption profile

In fact, Veronica wasn’t the collection of hair-bows and smiles at all. Veronica is a teenage girl who has been searching for a mother for six years. Veronica is human, and six years is a long time to wait for your life to begin.

Less than a year before, Veronica had hope that her latest segment on Wednesday’s Child would finally connect with an adoptive family

They say the best way to break a person is to give them hope – and then crush it

Not just once, but over, and over, and over. Do projects like this documentary – and the torturous silence that follows – are doing that very thing.

When she was asked if she wanted to be featured, did she said yes because it was expected of her?

We forget that children in foster care have zero control over what they eat, what they wear, where they live, and where they go – everything they do is run by a system. We forget about the pressure on girls and women to agree to things that make them uncomfortable, just to get through the day safely.

What Veronica wants most in the world – after being adopted – is to find a place where she can be of service

She wants to work and contribute to the world in a way that makes her feel valuable. After living in a series of foster homes, repeatedly shifted aside to make room for the next kid, she’d love to be irreplaceable.

There are gaps in her knowledge that only a mother can fill

There are obstacles ahead where she will be stuck, terrified, and humiliated. For a child who has already faced more than her fair share of these experiences, it’s painful to know the road ahead will be more of the same – unless we can find a mother to guide her.

As Veronica recites a list of things she cannot do, her shoulders slump lower and she curls inward until she’s in a ball on the sofa

She’s been set up to fail so many times that it’s become a part of her identity

Her opportunities to shine – volunteering, cleaning, cooking, gardening, have been taken away, and all that is left are obstacles she’s not equipped to handle on her own.

Veronica says, “I’m a person who would be grateful for anything. Just to be thought of”

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