Because You Give, Love Finds a Way

Sometimes, the right adoptive family for a child needs a helping hand to be able to afford to bring that child home. This is especially true when the waiting child has medical needs. The story of Jennifer and her two adoptive daughters from China, Cordelia and Susie, shows just how true this is.

“I kept telling myself … it wasn’t the right time to adopt,” recalls Jennifer, about her decision to bring home a second child with special needs from China. She had just used every bit of her savings to purchase a new home, and was settling in with her first adopted daughter, 6-year-old Cordelia, who was born with Down syndrome.

But Jennifer couldn’t get her mind off Susie, a precious 3-year-old girl also born with Down syndrome. Susie was waiting for a family, and her photo had captured Jennifer’s heart. She also knew a gut-wrenching truth: If Susie remained in China, she would live out her days in an orphanage — without the love and attention she needed to be all that she could be. Still, Jennifer admits she was “terrified” about adopting again.

“Being a single mom to one was tough,” she says. “What if two were simply more than I could handle?” And the dynamic at home would change for Cordelia, who had always had Jennifer all to herself.

Finally, there were the costs — daunting for a single mom on a teacher’s salary. But, in the end, Jennifer said yes to adoption — because of generous friends like you. Although she ran multiple fundraisers and applied for grants, she needed more to make it across the finish line. Then a generous donor stepped forward.

“Donors are the reason Susie was able to come home. Period,” Jennifer says emphatically. “We like to think that love will find a way, but there is absolutely no way I could have funded the total cost of Susie’s adoption…. I am ETERNALLY grateful to her donor.”

It’s now been 6 years since Jennifer’s daughters, Cori and Susie, became sisters. They are now 12 (Cori) and 10 (Susie) and have started 6th and 3rd grade, respectively. More challenges have arrived with the passing years, but this family has two superpowers that have helped them withstand all that’s come their way: a strong family bond and deep resilience.

Cori was diagnosed with autism at the start of fourth grade, but now is able to learn in a way that is allowing her to thrive. As Jennifer says: “She reads at a second-grade level, is excited for school every day, and is such a gentle and caring kid. She loves cats and babies, and these days we’ve been watching and rewatching Boss Baby and, oddly, Supernany.”

Susie is mostly nonverbal, something her doctor attributes to the fact that she came home from China at the age of 4 and a half taking only baby formula, and was well past her fifth birthday when she learned to eat solids. She communicates with an iPad and is constantly astonishing others with how well she navigates that device. Jen says of Susie: “These days she is full of chatter!”

In their home, Jen places much importance on needing to work together as a team. And the girls love this, enjoying helping their mom unpack and put away groceries, and fold laundry.

Without a mom like Jen to care for them, Cori and Susie would have faced a life without love and caring. They’d have been left to fester in an orphanage completely unequipped to help children with medical needs like theirs. And without generous donors like you, Jen would never have been able to adopt her two daughters and build this special family.

We love revisiting these stories and hope you love reading them. They are so full of hope and optimism — qualities the world needs today.

To help more children like Cori and Susie find their adoptive families faster, please consider a gift to our Adoption Fund!