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A family has offered new hope of finding a home for a dying mother's Down's syndrome daughter after her plight was featured in the South China Morning Post.

The family, a Canadian-Chinese couple and their primary school-age son, contacted the terminally ill mother in October. They are now close to making a decision on fostering and ultimately adopting the girl.

Po Wai-han, 26, known as Ah Po to her friends, lives on a Sha Tin public housing estate and has terminal bladder cancer. Her cancer has spread to her bones and liver, and doctors have told her she has only months to live.

As a single mother whose family is unable to help, she has appealed since July through the media for someone or a couple with 'lots of love and patience' to adopt her five-year-old daughter, Wing-yu.

She is worried that if she dies, no one will take care of her daughter and she will be orphaned.

On July 26, the day her story featured, phone calls flooded the Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association, which is helping her in the adoption appeal.

Five parties, mostly single people, and one couple, attended a briefing jointly organised by the Social Welfare Department and the association on August 11. None signed up for the adoption.

'Many of them were not serious about adoption. Some just wanted to come to give her support. Some wanted to know more about her case to see if there was anything they could do to help,' said Christopher So Kwok-on, director of the association.

Ms Po wishes to be reunited with her daughter if she recovers.

Head of the department's adoption unit Alice Choi Chau Pui-yau said such a requirement made it difficult to find adoptive parents.

'She wants the parents to foster the child first and only to adopt her after she passes away. This has made it difficult because people don't know if they can really adopt the girl,' Ms Choi said.

In September, Ms Po was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for chemotherapy and has since been in a wheelchair.

The first real hope has come from the Canadian-Chinese family. The couple, in their 30s, read of the mother's plight in the Post.

With their son, they met Wing-yu for the first time at her home. 'They are very sincere and serious, and they like Yu-yu a lot,' Ms Po said.

The couple and their prospective adopted daughter started a conversation during the meeting.

They said to her: 'Shall we bring you to our house? We have a nice dog.' Wing-yu, who loves dogs, replied quickly: 'Yes.'

Both the association and the department are heartened by the interest from the family.

'We are very happy that a family would continue to respond to the appeal,' Ms Choi said.

Mr So said the association had 'high hopes that the parents can adopt her'.

The couple will meet department officials next week for a briefing, before being given two weeks to make a decision.

Ms Po said she hoped a fostering arrangement could be reached.

But asked what her ultimate New Year wish was, she said: 'I wish I could survive, and get well so I can take care of Yu-yu and stay with her.'

The Down Syndrome Association can be contacted on 2718 7775.



Canadian-Chinese couple may adopt cancer woman's Down's syndrome child