Completing our blended family
When Troy and I got married, it was not just the two of us joining together but also the coming together of Troy’s children, Colton and Riley, and my child, Jamiee. Despite already having three biological children between us, Troy and I always knew we wanted to adopt. So after four years of marriage, we started our journey. We were approached early on to consider adopting a child with special needs. Although we had not considered it before, after further research and exploration we decided to go for it. Even though an initial opportunity to adopt a child with special needs fell through, it really opened our eyes and showed us what we were willing and ready to commit to.
At first, Troy and I had thought we wanted to adopt a baby, but when we met Nolan – who was two years old at the time – we just knew he was our son. Nolan has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, he is able to bear weight on his legs but cannot walk or stand. I have a cousin with cerebral palsy, and Troy is a physical education teacher and had worked with students who have different ranges of cerebral palsy. As such we were aware of the challenges that may lie ahead, and just naïve enough not to be intimated.
When we returned home to the US from Hong Kong with Nolan, we discovered he had a little buddy back at WeeCare. We reached out to find his friend – hoping to find his adoptive family so the boys could connect. We soon discovered that not only was his friend not adopted, no one had even enquired about this little boy. When I told Troy, we both knew immediately what we needed to do.
When we finally brought Francis home we were very excited about reuniting the boys. Despite being apart for so long, the boys immediately remembered each other. Francis loves to hold Nolan and every morning gives Nolan hugs and kisses. This is especially precious because Francis is autistic, and a lot of children with autism do not like being touched. They are very typical brothers, they love each other and bug each other. They clearly have such a special bond and are able to communicate with each other in a way none of us will probably ever fully understand.
When Troy and I started our journey, we never imagined that it would lead us to adopting two special needs boys into our blended family. And now watching our five children together, it is like they have always been siblings and that Nolan and Francis have always been ours.
