Interview Summary

The Altman family’s adoption journey began in 2013, as Matthew’s sister, Katie, was working in one of China’s rare special needs orphanages for a missions trip. This orphanage was very unique as it was built by and is supported by the well renowned Christian singer, Stephen Curtis Chapman.The Chapman family also started the organization Show Hope, which provides grants and assistance to families that are trying to adopt orphans. The orphanage in relation to this story is called Maria’s Big House of Hope. It is a place where children who have special needs can live, while receiving the love and medical attention they need. Katie came home that summer telling her parents and siblings Matt and Abby of her experience and of one little girl in specific that she fell in love with—Jaelynn. Matthew will tell you that his family immediately felt God pulling at their heart strings once they heard her story. The Altman family always admired others decision to adopt, but never felt it was meant for them. It became real for them when they first saw a picture of Jaelynn. After much prayer, they felt God was calling them to bring Jaelynn home to them. They began the adoption process knowing there would be challenges, especially financial ones as international adoptions can be pricey. The adoption costed approximately $26,000. It is much more expensive to adopt outside of the United States due to transportation and having to work with agencies from other countries. However, many individuals, organizations, and churches contributed to make the adoption possible. They hosted several fundraisers, such as spaghetti dinners, and saved every penny they possibly could. Their extended family held yard sales and sold t-shirts. Thankfully, the organization Show Hope gifted them with a grant that helped out significantly. The number “26,000” felt daunting to them, but God provided. The entire process took about a year. Matthew will tell you that it was hard to remain patient during that year. It felt like all they were doing was waiting. Waiting for the next batch of paperwork. Waiting to see if things would be confirmed and if they were matched with the correct little girl. That next Thanksgiving they had something to be incredibly grateful for, as that was when Jaelynn travelled across the globe to come home to her “forever family”. Matthew describes meeting his little sister as “overwhelmingly emotional”. He told me how weird it was to finally come face to face with the girl they had been praying for the whole past year. It was an experience like no other. Jaelynn quickly adjusted to American culture. Her medical issues needed to be address immediately when she got here, as the surgery she needed was only available to her in the states. Jaelynn has spinal bifida so she is in a wheel chair. Her new family had to learn how to adjust to having a child in a wheel chair, but they say it was not too hard. Matt tells me that once they went through the adoption process they felt connected with this whole new group of people. They feel there is encouragement and knowledge found within these people that have been on a similar journey to them. Adoption is a gift like no other, and Matt tells me it is rewarding beyond belief. At the end of our interview, he said “There is not a doubt in any of our hearts that Jaeylnn is a part of our family. We just had to wait a little bit longer to meet her”.