She’s unafraid to tell you that fact, but there’s no moaning in the recounting. It simply is what it is.
And what it is, she’s continually learning, is wholly hers, and wholly valuable.
“Lord willing, I want more children,” she says from her home in southern Louisiana. “I’m not sure how that will look, but Dara has forever changed my outlook on adoption.”
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That outlook began before Dara was even born in Bulgaria in 2017. It started when Geno, now 27, was in high school and first learned about international adoption through her church. Then came months spent in Moldova in college in a ministry role, cementing the idea that someday one of her children would come from Eastern Europe.
Geno, a special education teacher, married and eventually had a son named Levi in 2019. Her pregnancy was difficult, making “the idea of adoption sounded less life-threatening, though harder in many ways.” She and her then-husband Matthew discovered Dara, a toddler with cerebral palsy, on RainbowKids, another adoption advocacy organization. The couple committed in February 2020, right before lockdowns’ cruelty.
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“I read her file and saw her adorable photos, and I could tell she was a fighter,” Geno says. Indeed, after being born at 29 weeks and suffering a brain bleed, Dara was in shockingly good condition ― especially without the support of a family. This fact gave her future mother some peace.
What Geno didn’t know: trauma is a faceless beast.
“One thing I will say [now]: do the required homework about adopting special needs and adopting children with trauma,” she advises. “Then do extra. You can never be prepared enough.”
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After a virtual first trip and final two-week pickup trip to Bulgaria in June of 2021, Geno and Matthew brought Dara home. She started daycare, then preschool, absorbing English at an astonishing rate. She celebrated her first birthday within a family in November, basking in everyone’s attention.
Then came April of 2022, with seizures possessing her petite body for close to an hour at a time ― and the unexpected breakup of her new parents’ marriage in dramatic fashion. Two months later, Geno moved with her children, just 20 months apart, to a new town, closer to her family. Thankfully, the exposure to grandparents and uncles has been a spark of positivity for Dara, and she loves her school and teachers.
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“She often pretends to be a teacher and boss her brother around,” Geno says. “What are big sisters for, right?”
So many facts of life as a family-of-three are still new and raw. But there have been pennies from heaven, too: the fact that Dara has gained 15 centimeters and eight pounds; the way she and Levi miss each other when apart only for a small while; her infectious giggle and bubbly personality; how she scrunches up her nose for photos, her smile swallowing her entire face; her ability to inhale pizza, macaroni and every other carb within a five-mile radius with joyful gusto; how she relishes her celebrity status amongst the children’s ministry workers at church.
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“My favorite thing about Dara is how empathetic she is and accepting of others,” her adoptive mama says. “From the moment she met Levi, she accepted him as her brother and loves him so much. She is also accepting of kids in her class with various special needs.”
And why wouldn’t she? Dara, for all her sassiness, has an excellent memory and a caring heart. She knows about her own before-and-after, and Geno is hopeful that she has finally accepted that her new family is permanent.
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“She has flourished in a family,” Geno says simply. |
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In that regard, perhaps she and her son and daughter are merely in the first portion of their Hallmark movie, not at the heart-sighing finale. But even if they weren’t, Geno is content with the direction of the script. |
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”It’s hard and messy but so beautiful and worth it,” she says. |
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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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