I was 27 and healthy. The thought of having a baby with Down syndrome had never even occurred to me.
When my third daughter, Bree, was born by C-section, I saw her for only a moment before she was taken away for oxygen. Later, the doctor said quietly, “We think your baby has Down syndrome.” My heart dropped. I cried through her first day of life, too scared to hold her.
The next day, when I finally touched her tiny hand and she curled her fingers around mine, something changed. I knew we would be okay. She wasn’t something to weigh me down; she was a true gift.
When Bree was two, I suffered several miscarriages. I longed for another child, but hope felt far away. Then I came across a picture of a four-year-old girl living in an orphanage in Ukraine.
She also had Down syndrome and had spent her life alone.
Her eyes seemed to plead, “Come get me.” Five months later, after endless paperwork and travel, we held her for the first time and named her Mia. A week after bringing Mia home, I found out I was pregnant, with twins. The pregnancy became complicated due to twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.
At 20 weeks, we flew to California for life-saving surgery.
By God’s grace, both girls survived and were born healthy at 37 weeks. In less than a year, our family grew from three to six children. In 2015, we learned of a baby boy in Ukraine. His mother had been pressured to leave him because of his diagnosis. She prayed every day for someone to save him. We traveled back and adopted him, Noah.
Meeting his birth mother was emotional and beautiful, even without words to explain it. People ask how we went from crying over Bree’s diagnosis to choosing to adopt two more children with Down syndrome. The truth is, we took one day at a time. Fear slowly turned into joy. Today, we have seven children, three with Down syndrome.
They have shown us more about love than we could ever hope to teach them. Our journey has had loss, fear, and heartache but also miracles, laughter, and blessings beyond measure. What started as a moment of shock in a hospital became a life richer than I ever dreamed. Bree’s extra chromosome opened the door to a story I never planned, but one I’m so thankful to live.
