Couple honored for adopting Cambodian girl with genetic disorder

Maya Hughes (née Rath Srey Mom), center, stands with parents Susan Potter and Mark Hughes on Friday at their Gardiner home. (Photo by Joe Phelan, Morning Sentinel)

October 4, 2007
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine --A Gardiner couple who adopted a Cambodian infant who was brought to the U.S. for treatment of an extremely rare genetic disorder were among this year's recipients of the Angels in Adoption Award.

Mark Hughes and Susan Potter were among adoptive parents from around the country who were honored Thursday in Washington, D.C. by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.

Through a newspaper story, Potter became aware of the girl, now named Maya, who at 23 months weighed only 10 pounds when she arrived from Cambodia in 2000 for treatment for Pallister-Hall syndrome, a disorder that usually causes malformations of numerous parts of the body.

Maya received five months of advanced treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital and had six major surgeries.

Touched by the girl's story, Potter and Hughes applied to adopt her. Now 9, Maya is a healthy fourth-grader who enjoys gymnastics.

Sen. Susan Collins, who nominated the couple for the award, said Maya's story was "truly touching. I was very impressed with Susan and Mark for all that they have done to ensure that Mya grows up a happy and healthy child."

A long way from Cambodia, a girl is all smiles

Maya Hughes (née Rath Srey Mom), center, stands with parents Susan Potter and Mark Hughes on Friday at their Gardiner home. (Staff photo by Joe Phelan)

By KEITH EDWARDS
Staff Writer
Morning Sentinel (Kennebec, Maine, USA)

GARDINER -- Nine-year-old Maya Hughes shouldn't be the sweet third-grader who runs and laughs with classmates; loves rainbows, gardening with her mom, and cooking hot dogs on the grill; and punctuates nearly everything she says with "please" and "thank you."

Someone who spent most of her first two years of life neglected and malnourished, unable to walk or talk, suffering from birth defects and stuck in a hammock in the back room of a Cambodian orphanage, would seem to have every reason to be angry at the world. Instead, tiny Maya has a sunny disposition so infectious it rubs off on peers and adults alike.

"Maya has a perseverance and cheerfulness she carries with her everywhere she goes," said her third-grade teacher and family friend, Liz Hall. "The amazing thing is, when she's paired up with another student, that student also ends being kinder and more patient, too.

"If I could somehow have everyone pair up with her, this would be a better world."

Her mom, Susan Potter, said adults are not immune.

When they see Potter and Maya at Hannaford shopping for groceries, some other shoppers may catch Maya's smile, and end up with a big smile of their own.

"I'll see them two aisles later, still smiling," Potter said. "She just has this aura about her. She's the single most extraordinary human being I've ever known."

Maya was born Rath Srey Mom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 11, 1998, with multiple birth defects later diagnosed as Pallister-Hall Syndrome. Her birth parents, Potter said, realized they couldn't meet her needs and left her with an orphanage. Potter said the orphanage didn't have enough food or other resources for all its children. So Maya, because she was disabled, was nearly ignored.

"She spent 23 months in a hammock in a back room, by herself," Potter said. "She was malnourished. She never had any toys to play with. She never had anyone hold her."

In April 2000, Maya was brought to the United States by the Sharing Foundation, a nonprofit foundation formed to try to improve the health and welfare of Cambodian children.

A few minutes spent with Maya recently in the River View Community School library hinted at the progress she has made.

She not only walks, she runs.

She not only talks as well as any typical 9-year-old, she talks in adult-sounding sentences starting with phrases like, "Let me tell you something."

And she has clearly bonded with her parents and teachers, hugging her mom often and saying she would miss her when Potter said she had to go back to work. She's been through 10 major surgeries -- including surgery on her teeth, hand and feet -- and dealt with complications including a bowel obstruction and fungal sepsis infection.

Maya likes many of the same things other 9-year-olds do.

"I like being with friends," she said, her brown eyes shining. "I like rainbows. Gardens. Computers. I like going to the theater."

But she also likes to clean, cook and help her mom in the garden.

Asked why she likes to help, she raised her arms from her sides and gazed back with a look of disbelief that said, without words: "How could I possibly not?"

Potter said people will complement her, as a mother, for having such a polite child.

"I tell them it's the other way around," Potter said. "When you're around her, you just behave in a more civilized, respectful manner."

By the time Maya came along, Potter was in her mid-40s and had already raised a son and daughter. She didn't have toys or a crib or other items for small children.

Soon, Maya's story got out in the community. And the community responded.

"I'd come home and find things on my porch -- a crib, toys... I still don't know where some of the stuff came from," Potter said.

Potter figures Maya is where she is, and who she is, for a reason.

"There is something different about this child," she said. "When destiny calls, you've got to be strong. I don't know what her destiny is or what she's going to do when she grows up. But there is a reason for this child to be here."

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647
kedwards@centralmaine.com