Blessed
by
adoption Adopted students and adoptive parents testify of joys of the gospel and life they learned from adoption
According to adopted students at BYU–Hawaii, there is a stigma to being adopted. They said people ask them about their biological family and their relationship to their adopted families. BYUH faculty member Tom Court shared his experience with adoption after he and his wife adopted their three sons from China. He said the decision came from a push from the Spirit and it was worth every effort. Adopting from China Court, an assistant professor of TESOL, said they adopted three children from China, all over the age of 12. He said he and his wife always had a positive opinion about adoption. However, he said they did not feel strong enough to handle the emotional aspects of 24
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foster parenting, which is the most common road to adoption in the United States. International adoption was the only other option, he said, but the finances involved with international adoption seemed insurmountable to Court. When his wife saw their first son’s face on a website dedicated to helping older special needs children find families, he said, “We felt the Spirit pushing, not prompting, pushing us to move forward.” The adoption process took between 12 and 18 months per child. Each had unique challenges, said Court. According to him, finances were the biggest problem with the first child. During the second adoption, time was the problem they faced. Court said he and his wife had to get
everything done before their second son turned 14 because at age 14, children are no longer eligible for adoption. Court said luckily they were able to finalize the adoption one month before his 14th birthday. Their third adoption was much closer, he said, as they finalized everything four days before his 14th birthday. Along with time constraints, with their third son, they dealt with health issues and he spent his first three weeks in the United States in a hospital for kidney failure, heart failure, anemia, and severe anorexia. Court said he is grateful for his sons. “[I] don’t want to imagine life without them. We’re very inspired by their strength of character and determination to overcome challenges.”
Image provided by Pixabay Graphics by Brad Carbine
BY MICHAEL KRAFT
