We are Jaime and Gary and we hope that our story can help you understand why we have chosen the wonderful yet difficult path of adoption. We are the parents to three internationally adopted children from China, Shawn 8, Ryan 5, and Robin 3. We are often asked why we chose to adopt internationally rather than have our own biological children. We answer them how Vernon Pierce, a pastor and foster parent, does. He describes the mirrors between adoption and Gods love. He says “I like to tell people that we were the people in the back of the filing cabinet with the red stamp saying: Do not adopt. You look at the file on humanity and it says: Prone to rejection, prone to running away, prone to disobedience. There is no reason why God should have loved us and yet God did love us. He set his love upon us and it was a redemptive love to reconcile us to himself, to restore us to himself and restoring a people to himself. We were meant to be part of the family of God. We fell away and God still brings us back to himself”. When we adopt, we willing to choose the “red stamps” of life; those who are hurt, both physically and emotionally. We as parents set our love upon them and watch as Gods redemptive and restorative power work through us to directly change our children. It’s a truly powerful and miraculous thing to watch. It is also why we believe that the most profound thing we can impart to our children is the love of Christ. While we set our love upon our children we also disciple them with this message, that it is only Jesus who can save and change a heart from the inside.
In 2012 we started our journey with the adoption of a 2-year-old boy, Shawn, born with a cleft lip/palate. We followed his adoption up with two others in 2016 and 2017. Ryan was adopted at 3 and was diagnosed with Lamb-Shaffer Syndrome, a rare genetic deletion causing intellectual disabilities, speech impairments, and ataxic muscle movements. Little Robin arrived home at the age of one. She was diagnosed with cleft lip/palate, a heart defect, and hearing loss. As with all institutionalized children, their early childhood trauma and fear manifests in various ways. We meet them where they are, set our love upon them and trust God to redeem and restore the broken, just as Christ does for us.
Each one of our children has their own individual stories. Yet, they all share a similar heritage and can relate to each other through their medical needs. While they recognize the others struggles or disabilities they don’t capitalize on them but overlook them; the abled helping the disabled, the better signer helping the non-verbal to communicate more effectively, playing as a sibling unit despite ability.
We are seeking to adopt Caleb, a 7-year-old with arthrogryposis. We had the privilege of speaking with Caleb’s American foster family and gaining insight into his personality. His foster parents describe Caleb as a peacemaker with a sweet personality. He tries to find ways to accomplish tasks on his own despite his physical disability. Caleb also lives with foster siblings that have a variety of needs, ranging from Trisomy 21, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and Clefts. His foster parents feel that Caleb would thrive as a middle brother who could not only look up to his older brother but also be a helper to his younger siblings. Caleb is receiving excellent care at his healing home but cannot reach his full potential there. He has already had seven surgeries and will require several more to achieve greater range of motion in his extremities. We have a translated letter written by Caleb expressing his desire to be adopted. You can also hear the sadness in his voice as he feels overlooked while he watches all of his friends be adopted.
We are humbled that you have taken the time to read our profile and thank you as you consider donating to help us bring Caleb home!
10/13/2021 — AWAITING TRAVEL APPROVAL SINCE 2020
