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Dear Birth Mom,

I am a 48 year-old single mother of two adopted special needs children. Clifford (17) has cerebral palsy and mild mental retardation. He was placed with me in 1994 and Chad (14) who has spina bifida and hydrocephalus, plus some developmental delays, who was placed with me in 1996.

I live in Apple Creek, Ohio where we have some very beautiful weather for the most part, although there are occasional severe snow storms, as we had last night, or rainstorms, etc. I have been very pleased and delighted with the way my community has supported and helped me in raising these children. The Ida Sue School has helped my children in many ways. They have a Parent Resource program that pays for respite care and they also take my children into their Summer Camp program each year. With the respite care, they will reimburse any caregiver I name, so I am able to choose the ones I trust. I have a pool of caregivers available so that there is nearly always one whom it will suit to baby-sit.

We attend the East Union Mennonite Church and have felt tremendous support from this church as well. All of our caregivers are in some way connected with our church affiliation.

There is another program that is called Wayne County Crippled Children and Adults that pays for special needs such as wheelchairs or installing a wheelchair ramp in the home or swimming pool dues for therapeutic swimming.

I take Chad to the Spina Bifida Clinic at Akron Children’s Hospital twice yearly and both of my boys have occasionally been hospitalized there. I am well versed in what I need to do to keep my children healthy and they are really thriving. The hospital has a Ronald McDonald house where I have stayed occasionally with one child while the other was in the hospital.

I am a born again Christian and it is because of the love of God in my heart that I desire to have another child to love and care for. I need to be frank and admit to you that I have a bit of a hard time understanding how one would feel to have a handicapped child born to them. I can only imagine the sorrow and grief that you must be feeling, but I feel so blessed to have had the privilege of caring for Clifford and Chad. Even though I do not rejoice that they were born handicapped, I have to think of the joy that I would have missed if I did not have them. I believe every child deserves to have the love and security of a home and caring parents of at least a caring parent in my case.

I am very glad that you chose to give life to your child and I pledge to you that by the grace of God I will give your child the same love and nurturing that I am giving to my children if your child is placed with me.

What we enjoy doing together as a family is that we visit the library regularly, where my children play educational games on the computer in the Children’s Department. We also go on picnics in the park, I read them stories at home and Chad has a Leap Pad that is interactive, fun, and educational and both boys enjoy playing it. I also take them for therapeutic swimming which they really enjoy. We like to just stay at home occasionally, such as today with school called off because of the snow, and just play with each other on the floor.

On holidays we spend the day with my parents or brothers and sisters or both. On most New Years Days we go to visit Chad’s foster family, who has adopted six of his siblings, so they can maintain contact. They are a fine Christian family and have accepted Clifford as one of their own as well and they have also encouraged me in my adoption endeavors. It is like having another set of grandparents to visit and is so nice!

I have chosen special needs adoption because I have learned to dearly love these children who have a hard time fitting into society because of their handicaps. I really enjoy the challenge of helping them to grow and mature into pleasant, sociable individuals who can make some contribution to society. Also I worked at a handicapped children’s home in Virginia (Faith Mission Home) and that was where I first had the desire to adopt handicapped children.

Now, I would like to add a bit about my work. I am a self- employed masseuse and give massages to local people in their homes. Also, I rent freezers to Amish neighbors and have a small laundromat in my basement for their use and I do taxi service for them as well. With this income and the adoption subsidies and SSI that I receive for the boys, I am readily able to provide for them.

In my heart I have a deep desire to have another child to love and care for. I know there are many children out there who have no one who is able to care for them and I would like to make a difference in another child’s life. I have seen the rewards of my efforts in Clifford and Chad today, as compared to how they were when they were placed with me. I know that extra love and nurturing really does work to help them grow and mature and become to some degree able to care for themselves.

I hope you will prayerfully consider whether you feel my home is right for your child’s placement. I wish you the Lord’s blessing and comfort and that you would have the assurance that you have done the best for your child.