Child friendly

THIS year Joan and Arthur Orr not only celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary but they also celebrated 40 years of fostering.
On their 10th anniversary the Cranbourne couple’s first foster child was brought into the world.
Now, 40 years later, the pair is set to foster their 99th baby.
In the time the couple have fostered more than 90 children, they have also raised two of their own, Michelle and Christopher, meaning there was never a dull moment in the Orr household.
Since 1971, the couple have been linked with three separate organisations including the Royal Women’s Hospital, Oz Child and St Joseph’s Baby Home.
But when they first started the fostering process wasn’t easy and they were initially told there wasn’t any need for foster parents.
Yet Mrs Orr didn’t let the initial refusal dampen her spirit and it wasn’t long after this that the couple had an interview, and were then shortly notified they would soon be given a baby boy to care for.
Although they might not have known it at the time, the baby was a taste of things to come, with many more foster babies entering the doors of the Orr household in following years.
The couple would care for the children for approximately the first six to eight months of their life, and while many would find the separation process difficult, Mrs Orr said she was happy to send them off into a loving family.
“Once you meet the new adoptive parents, everything goes nice and smooth, and you get close to the couple,” she said.
“They really appreciate what you have done for the children.”
Neither Mr nor Mrs Orr could imagine their life without the babies in it and the enormous time and service they have given to the fostering program has earned them recognition from a number of organisations.
Joan has been made a Life Governor of the Royal Woman’s Hospital and was also nominated as senior citizen of the year.
Oz Child has also recognised the couple’s commitment, with framed certificates from the organisation displayed on the Orrs’ nursery wall.
But it’s not the recognition and rewards that the Orrs are in it for, it’s the chance to nurture new born babies and prepare them for their life ahead.
“I’ve always loved babies,” Mrs Orr said.
She puts her own and her husbands ability to relate to the children down to something they were both blessed with.
“It’s something that’s just in you,” she said.