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Project 2 Draft 1

The Best Gift

Adoption is an opportunity to give life to a child that is without a permanent home and lacking a source of unconditional love. It is an expansion of the family and of the heart. In 2015, there were 140 million children in the world that were considered orphans, left parentless or with parents that were unable or unwilling to care for them (Unicef). The number since then has only grown and will continue to grow, due to disease and war, unless there is an increase in the number of capable families that are willing to accept a child into their home.

I have had the chance to personally experience the wondrous thing that adoption is, by following the adoption journey of the Altman family. My brother in law, Matthew Altman, has a little sister, Jaelynn, who was adopted from China. In 2011, Matthew’s sister, Katie, was working in one of China’s rare special needs orphanages for a mission trip she was on. 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 (Altman, interview).

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 (Altman, interview).

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 for them (Altman, interview).

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 (Altman, interview).

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. Matt 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” (Altman, interview).

The adoption community is large and ever-growing, seeing as approximately “…135,000 children are adopted in the United States each year” (PBS). That number only includes the United States adoptions so there are guaranteed to be even more internationally. These families that have chosen to adopt certainly share a unique bond.


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