A Brave Girl With A Big Dream

June 30, 2019 arthrogryposis, Family Stories, June 2019 Feature - Orthopedic, older child adoption, Orthopedic 5 Comments

“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.”– Bethany Hamilton Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. It’s a mouthful; most people shorten it to Arthrogryposis. Essentially, it means multiple joint contractures that affect two or more body areas. According to the Genetic and Rare Disease …Read More

Our Plan vs. God’s Plan

June 24, 2019 adopting a boy, arthrogryposis, clubfoot, Family Stories, June 2019 Feature - Orthopedic, medical needs checklist, Orthopedic 2 Comments

Staring at the long list of special needs, trying to decide which boxes to check we were open to, seemed overwhelming. Researching each medical condition was just as daunting. Did we check the right boxes? How can we “decide” which special need our child will have? Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC) first seemed like a big …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

Chosen and Loved: An Adoptee’s Perspective

September 29, 2018 adoptee perspective, adult adoptee, arthrogryposis, heritage trip, orphanage, orphanage visit, Post-Adoption contact, September 2018 Feature - Hearing From Adult Adoptees, telling their life story 3 Comments

I was adopted at two years so I don’t really have memories before coming to America. But I have always had a memory of being in a bathtub surrounded by colorful plastic balls. I also remember laying in a crib with a purple blanket draped over the top like a tent watching my mom on …Read More

How Adoption Changed Our Definition of Perfect

June 27, 2017 adopting a boy, adopting again, adopting out of birth order, arthrogryposis, Family Stories, June 2017 Feature - Orthopedic, mobility issues, older child adoption, Orthopedic, should we adopt?, wheelchair user 4 Comments

My husband and I met in middle school. We didn’t date until right after high school, but were close friends from early in our relationship. We dated through college and got married right after my graduation. We met a family who had children through adoption, and that was when the seed was planted. We knew …Read More

Nothing to Fear: Seeing Beyond the Check Box

June 20, 2017 adopting again, arthrogryposis, Family Stories, June 2017 Feature - Orthopedic, medical needs checklist, older child adoption, Orthopedic 3 Comments

She loves bubbles and baby dolls. Her favorite color is yellow. She is a quick learner and a compassionate friend. She has the most joyful laugh, and an infectious smile. And we wouldn’t have known any of these aspects of our daughter had we been scared off by one single word… Arthrogryposis. Her story began …Read More

It was Part of the Plan

June 10, 2017 arthrogryposis, clubfoot, June 2017 Feature - Orthopedic, mobility issues, Orthopedic, undiagnosed SN, walker user 0 Comments

If I ran out of the room right now I wonder if anyone would notice? We were standing in the civil affairs office in Guiyang, Guizhou, China and the reality of what was about to happen came crashing down as she was carried through the doors. We were seeing her in person for the first …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

A Child of God: Adopting a Child with Arthrogryposis

June 30, 2016 adopting a boy, arthrogryposis, clubfoot, Family Stories, June 2016 Feature - Orthopedic, Orthopedic 1 Comments

I knew the second I saw his picture that he was my son. I still remember scrolling through my facebook feed when my heart drew me into the boy on the screen and with only seeing his hands I knew… He was mine. We were not looking to adopt and years before we would have …Read More

Perseverance Personified

June 20, 2015 arthrogryposis, Family Stories, June 2015 Feature - Orthopedic, Orthopedic 2 Comments

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Olivia. I worked night shift then and would often stare at sweet faces when it was slow. There were so many. I often would get overwhelmed and quickly close the page because I couldn’t look at so many big brown, solemn eyes, without a feeling of loss.  A couple of …Read More

His Pleading Eyes…..

October 30, 2009 arthrogryposis, cl/cp, Craniofacial, Family Stories, Linny, Orthopedic, Sensory System 7 Comments

I had poured through a “billion” special needs kids faces, all of them drawing an “ooohh” or an “awwww”….but then I saw his face….and I gasped. (It seems that whenever I gasp I know God is up to something big.) Really. I remember staring at him and studying the expression on his sweet little face, …Read More

Mylee

March 31, 2009 arthrogryposis, clubfoot, Family Stories, misdiagnosed SN, Orthopedic 0 Comments

by Mandi, mom to Mylee from China with a SN or arthrogryposis, originally diagnosed by China as clubfoot Adoption has always been a dream of mine, specifically China. I don’t have a specific moment or story of when I decided I wanted to adopt, nor did I know how or when I would adopt, I …Read More

Linzhi

February 23, 2009 arthrogryposis, Family Stories, Orthopedic 0 Comments

by Amy, mother to Linzhi from China with arthrogryposis We felt the calling to adopt from China in the spring of 2006. We happily filled out our applications, picked our agency, social worker, gathered all our paperwork for our dossier, etc… We were thrilled to get a our DTC and LID in a timely manner …Read More

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