It was a race against the clock before she gave birth in yet another high-risk pregnancy. |
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When 30-year-old Emily Holt stood in a Ukrainian courtroom last year, she understood why the judge's eyes went straight to her midsection. She was 26 weeks pregnant with her fourth biological child, though only two waited at home in West Virginia. Eloise, her only biological daughter, had died of a rare genetic condition on March 20, 2020, a cruel introduction to Covid lockdowns. |
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Yet here Holt was in 2021, asking the judge to let her adopt two Ukrainian toddlers with major disabilities. It was a race against the clock before she gave birth in yet another high-risk pregnancy.
“It was kind of scary,” Holt remembers. “I was having Braxton Hicks contractions and stressing out in Ukraine, like this would be a really bad time to go into labor.”
Nearly all of 2020 and 2021 felt like bad timing, actually. First came baby Eloise’s passing, then Covid. Then the risky decision to adopt from Ukraine after talking with a Reece’s Rainbow mama who had also lost a child.
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But those children Holt and her husband Jack hoped to adopt became unavailable. And oh yes ― the couple had become unexpectedly pregnant, and there was a chance the baby could also have the same condition that killed his big sister.
“We really didn’t know if everything was going to be okay, but we were going to trust God and see what happened,” Holt says.
What happened was a series of small miracles.
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First, a social worker connected the Holts with Philip, a two-year-old with Down Syndrome. His biological parents loved him deeply and wanted him to be adopted. Though Down Syndrome wasn’t a need the Holts had initially considered, maybe they could just meet him? They agreed ― and fell in love.
“The thought of leaving him behind sounded horrible,” Holt says. “Accepting his referral ended up being the best decision!”
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Philip joined Alina, a same-aged sister with an articulation disorder. So the Holts would be bringing home two new children in the nick of time before Emily gave birth to their new little brother ― if the judge would agree to it.
“When we showed up to virtual court in April, we knew our judge would not waive the [typically required] 30-day wait [between trips],” Holt says. “She stopped court and said we’re going to have to reschedule in one month. But we were looking at the dates and thinking there was no way I could travel to Ukraine again.”
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Heck, Holt had barely convinced her doctors to let her travel to Ukraine at 26 weeks (only two weeks earlier than the point at which she prematurely delivered Eloise). Even the orphanage nannies panicked when the expectant mother held Philip and Alina or carried them around. Emily and Jack needed this judge to waive that 30-day wait so they could take home their children before her third trimester!
So the couple shared their story with the judge. Miracle #2: she said yes.
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“There was definitely a bit of fear and panic,” before her decree, Holt says. “It’s frightening to be in a different country and have all that going on.”
Two trips down, then, and two new Holts brought home to the Mountain State in 2021. Philip could barely sit up and often stared into space, rarely noticing his surroundings. Alina was nonverbal and despised eye contact.
Yet their new mother noticed changes in each almost immediately.
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“Philip didn’t understand the concept of feeding himself, but now he eats everything and is meeting all of his milestones for Down Syndrome,” she says. “And Alina was at the level of a 15-month-old when she was 27 months, but in only four months, she made a year’s worth of progress.”
And that unborn baby whom she gave birth to only two months after bringing home Philip and Alina? His name is Julian, and he’s 11 months old and healthy. “The baby only knows life with all his siblings,” Holt says. “He’s the glue for the family, in a way.”
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Holt recently took her children to the library for story time. Alina, now three, assertively shushed the children who were not paying attention and gently helped the babies make correct hand movements. Three-year-old Philip, meanwhile, melted into his mother’s arms, happy and content.
So many emotions crammed into such a small time, Holt thought. The loss of one daughter, the gain of another. The carrying of one son with giant question marks hanging over his tiny body, the holding of another outside her womb with the same.
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“My heart is bursting over; it’s full of joy and worry and fear, and I feel like everything I do is focused on my children and how I can be a better mother for them,” Holt says. “My husband and I make mistakes, but we try, and we just love them.”
“I look at these children ― including one who is fishing chips out of the trash right now ― and it’s just amazing to see them flourish.
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They have shown us more than anything how amazing having a family truly is.” |
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Crystal Kupper is a freelance writer specializing in magazines and special projects. Since earning her journalism degree, she has written for clients such as Zondervan, Focus on the Family and the Salvation Army, among many others. |
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REECE'S RAINBOW | www.reecesrainbow.org |
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