Lessons from Rudolph

December 23, 2019 adopting a boy, China trip, Christmas, limb difference, Orthopedic 1 Comments

Being a family of faith, we try to find most of the stories we tell and lessons we teach to our children this time of year from the Bible where the Christmas story is found. But we do own and enjoy a copy of the Limited Keepsake Edition of the Original Christmas Classics, including Rudolph the …Read More

A Tale of Two Limb Differences

June 17, 2019 adopting a boy, Education, Family Stories, IEP, June 2019 Feature - Orthopedic, limb difference, occupational therapy, Orthopedic, radial aplasia, radial club hand 4 Comments

Limb difference was one of the boxes we checked for our first China adoption in 2013. So when we received our son’s file, it was relatively easy to say yes. Our soon-to-be son, at 10 months of age, was the youngest child on the shared list that day. We were open to a boy or …Read More

How Grateful Are We: The Gift of Adoption

December 2, 2018 arthrogryposis, clubfoot, December 2018 Feature - The Gift of Adoption, Family Stories, limb difference, Orthopedic 1 Comments

This morning at 8 AM…. My little girl and I… together rocking in a chair. Her tiny little body cozy against mine, her head confidently against my chest, her breath in the same rhythm as mine, both enjoying this very precious moment. Mother and daughter…. united in a harmony that I couldn’t imagine before. Life …Read More

Ten Fingers. Five Toes.

July 21, 2018 adopting a boy, adopting two at once, amniotic band syndrome, amputation, June 2018 Feature - Orthopedic, limb difference, missing arm/leg, Orthopedic, prosthetics 6 Comments

It’s summer, and time to celebrate one of my very favorite days… my “youngest little’s” birthday! I am the mama to four amazing, yet very different boys, and I relish celebrating everything about these sweet souls. Especially this little guy – Johnny. This is Johnny-Cake’s second birthday home, and I am forever humbled that God …Read More

Joke’s on Me: Fibular Hemimelia

June 21, 2018 AFO, Family Stories, fibular hemimelia, June 2018 Feature - Orthopedic, leg length discrepancy, limb difference, medical trauma, Orthopedic, referral, should we adopt?, surgery, trauma, waiting for referral 12 Comments

If you have adopted, you know the overwhelming process of filling out the medical needs checklist (MCC). For those that haven’t, this is a piece of paper with a wide range list of medical needs, each having little boxes beside them, and your job is to check the ones you are open to within adoption. …Read More

“It’s Just the Way God Made Me”

September 11, 2017 amputation, Education, limb difference, missing fingers/toes, Orthopedic, prosthetics, public school, September 2017 Feature - Visible Special Needs, visible special need 7 Comments

Anna Grace is five years old. She loves all things Disney and princesses. Her favorite outings are to the zoo, museum, or playground. She takes dance class and swimming lessons. When she grows up, she wants to be a doctor, dance teacher, singer, or dog trainer. She loves playing outside with her friends, especially if …Read More

Seeing Things Differently

September 9, 2017 BAHA, Craniofacial, Family Stories, hearing loss, limb difference, microtia, Orthopedic, Sensory System, September 2017 Feature - Visible Special Needs, visible special need 0 Comments

Recently someone reached out to ask what I would tell a group of Boy Scouts if I could speak to them as a special needs mom. This friend, who works everyday as a speech therapist, had been invited to speak to a local Boy Scout troop about interacting with children with special needs. Upon reading …Read More

I Can’t is Not in Our Vocabulary

July 4, 2017 Family Stories, June 2017 Feature - Orthopedic, limb difference, Orthopedic, reluctant husband, should we adopt? 0 Comments

I can’t. Such a short phrase can carry so much defeat behind it. It’s a phrase that I was sure we would hear often when my husband and I were called to adopt a child with a limb difference. So many questions and emotions ran through my mind the day that I stared at our …Read More

Your Hand Fits Perfectly in Mine

June 30, 2017 ectrodactyly, June 2017 Feature - Orthopedic, limb difference, medical needs checklist, missing fingers/toes, Orthopedic 2 Comments

I can remember wanting to adopt for a long time — specifically wanting to adopt a daughter from China. My amazing stepdad adopted me when I was 12 so, since I was young, adoption has been close to my heart. When my husband and I married in 2004, adoption was something we knew we wanted …Read More

June Special Needs Focus (and Favorite Family Stories): Orthopedic

June 1, 2017 amniotic band syndrome, arthrogryposis, clubfoot, Favorite Family Stories, June 2017 Feature - Orthopedic, limb difference, Orthopedic, radial club hand, skeletal dysplasia 0 Comments

The term special needs can sound scary. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. Our goal at NHBO is to equip and inform parents – replacing fear with knowledge – as they navigate the beginning stages of special needs adoption. And then encourage and support those home with their special needs kiddos. We do …Read More

What’s in a Word

April 11, 2017 amputation, congenital femoral deficiency, Family Stories, limb difference, missing arm/leg, Orthopedic, prosthetics, proximal femoral focal deficiency, rotationplasty 2 Comments

Driving in the car recently, I was listening to my girls’ conversation with each other and was struck by the words that came out of their mouths. Almost perfectly pronounced, and discussed quite nonchalantly, words like: prosthetic leg, surgery, backwards foot. It sort of hit me that these are words that not everyone (especially little …Read More

Life with an AFO

February 13, 2017 AFO, Courtney, limb difference, Orthopedic 6 Comments

I will never forget the day we received “the call.” I had just walked my son into preschool and came back to the car to see a missed call from our adoption agency. I quickly dialed my social worker’s number and she said she had the file of a beautiful little girl she wanted to …Read More

Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy

July 1, 2016 adopting a boy, amputation, Family Stories, June 2016 Feature - Orthopedic, Larsen Syndrome, limb difference, older child adoption, prosthetics 1 Comments

My son, J, has Larsen syndrome, a condition of multiple joint malformations. I write this in hopes that it shows how manageable this condition is. In the summer of 2012, I saw a video that an advocate had posted, of a little boy riding a scooter around a play area. His nanny was directing him …Read More

Part of Your World: A Mermaid Tale

June 28, 2016 amputation, Family Stories, fibular hemimelia, June 2016 Feature - Orthopedic, leg length discrepancy, limb difference, missing fingers/toes, Orthopedic, prosthetics 4 Comments

We first saw her profile on our adoption agency’s web page. Her special need was listed as lower leg deformity, a layman’s term for fibular hemimelia, a congenital condition of missing/shortening of fibular bone, curved tibia (shin bone) and underdeveloped foot. I turned to my husband and said: “Hey, she looks kinda cute, but we …Read More

My Warrior. My Princess.

June 4, 2016 amputation, Family Stories, June 2016 Feature - Orthopedic, limb difference, Orthopedic, prosthetics 2 Comments

“She is the perfect combination of warrior and princess.” This phrase echoed through my mind as I watched her jump and twirl down the street, still wearing her tutu, waving her pirate sword in the air. She had just completed her first dance recital. I told her earlier that day, “Sometimes little girls get flowers …Read More

God’s Plans are Always Best

June 26, 2015 amniotic band syndrome, Family Stories, June 2015 Feature - Orthopedic, limb difference, Orthopedic 0 Comments

God’s plans are always best… even when we fight them. After years of dealing with infertility and finally placing our desire for children into the hands of our Father, He revealed that His plan A for us was adoption. When my husband and I first started our adoption process, we told our agency that we …Read More

not disabled. differently abled.

January 26, 2015 Family Stories, limb difference, missing hand/foot, Orthopedic 3 Comments

When I was fourteen I taught Sunday School for a year. One of the kids in my class of four year olds had a short left arm. The first day of class I found myself thinking “that poor little guy was born with only one arm.” It took next to no time at all for …Read More

waiting child highlight: limb difference

January 14, 2014 amniotic band syndrome, Family Found, limb difference, Orthopedic, symbrachydactyly 4 Comments

Today we are advocating for the special need of Limb difference. Limb differences are a very common special need found in waiting children. A Limb difference is any change from what we would consider a typical limb. Anything from missing a finger, to missing the whole arm is considered a limb difference. Limb differences also …Read More

Thank God they ARE mine!

October 14, 2012 cerebral palsy, Family Stories, hearing loss, limb difference, moyamoya, neurofibromatosis, Sensory System 4 Comments

Our story starts in 2004, when I had a complicated pregnancy with my first child, Gianna, and was advised not to ever get pregnant again. This was actually fine with me because I’d always been drawn toward adoption. We adopted our second child in 2007, another daughter we named Camille, from Kazakhstan. After strong suspicions …Read More

Madelyn's adoption story

October 5, 2012 Family Stories, limb difference, missing fingers/toes, Orthopedic, radial club hand 0 Comments

About eight years ago we began to consider adoption. We started by investigating foster care adoption in 2004, it didn’t work out. Fast forward to 2010—– we met a family with a precious three year old little girl from China. That afternoon we both said, it is time. We didn’t think we qualified for China, …Read More

Rachel and Katherine

December 2, 2010 limb difference, missing fingers/toes, polydactyly, symbrachydactyly 0 Comments

by Joy, mother to Katherine and Rachel from China with SNs of limb differences I am the mother of two daughters from China, both of whom were born with limb differences – specifically hand differences. As far as special needs go, my daughters’ diagnoses are no big deal and really don’t affect our lives much. …Read More

Lilah’s Turn

September 24, 2010 limb difference, missing hand/foot, prosthetics 0 Comments

by Anne and Mike, mom and dad to Lilah from China with a SN of limb difference Lilah is our second adopted child from China. Her brother Luke was adopted in February 2007 and the word to best describe his adoption was probably shocking. We were under the impression that his disabilities were minimal, and …Read More

Braxton

March 15, 2010 limb difference, missing arm/leg, prosthetics 0 Comments

by Tamera, mom to Braxton from China with an SN of limb difference Yesterday we awoke before the crack of dawn. This was a big day indeed. Braxton and I were headed to Shriners Hospital to receive his first prosthetic leg. It was merely 5:00am when we headed out and yet Braxton was wide eyed …Read More

Chloe

February 25, 2010 leg length discrepancy, limb difference, missing arm/leg 0 Comments

by Karin, mom to Chloe from China with a SN of a limb difference Years ago, God very clearly led us to start down the adoption road for a little girl in China with a special need that was not considered ‘adoptable’. At the time, CCAA had never allowed a child with this SN to …Read More

Hope

October 11, 2009 amniotic band syndrome, Family Stories, limb difference, missing fingers/toes, Orthopedic 0 Comments

by Amy, mom to Hope from China with Amniotic Band Syndrome (ABS) When we set out to adopt after having four biological children – we were looking to adopt a girl that was younger than our youngest son, who was 20 months at the time. Since we were already the parents of 4 young children …Read More

Bethany

March 8, 2009 Family Stories, limb difference, missing arm/leg, Orthopedic 0 Comments

by Tamera, mom to Bethany from China with a limb difference Preparing for Special Needs Adoption Adopting several children from China has been filled a joy-filled, faith-building, abundant adventure. We have four biological children and feel as though we are experienced parents. However, sometimes even experienced parents can find that they are not adequately prepared …Read More

Lizzie

February 19, 2009 amniotic band syndrome, clubfoot, Family Stories, Lifeline, limb difference, missing fingers/toes 0 Comments

By Anne, mom to Lizzie from China with clubfoot and a limb difference We had talked about adoption for many years and had actually started the process for a non special needs, infant girl from Korea when we found out we were pregnant with our fourth child (first girl). We were thrilled about our first …Read More

Mia

December 8, 2008 amniotic band syndrome, Family Stories, limb difference, missing arm/leg 0 Comments

By Sherri, mother of Mia from China with a limb difference The story of Mia When we decided to do a second adoption, we chose to do a special needs adoption. The only thing we knew for sure was that we were going to name her Mia. We didn’t have any certain special need in …Read More

Bethany

October 20, 2008 Family Stories, limb difference, missing arm/leg, Orthopedic 0 Comments

by Tamera, mom to Bethany from China with a limb difference God’s Grace As we have pursued adoption in China, God has taught us many lessons about His grace. One of those lessons happened in rural China in August of 2007. We were bringing home our second daughter from China. By God’s grace we had …Read More

Josiah

October 20, 2008 AGCI, Family Stories, hemi-hypertrophy, limb difference, Orthopedic 0 Comments

by Holly, mom to Josiah from China with a leg length discrepancy What made you decide to pursue a child through the SN program? We were called by God to adopt. It wasn’t anything we had really ever given any thought to before. It wasn’t that we were against it, it just wasn’t something that …Read More

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