‘Not a single person was there to say goodbye. He was frightened by the sound of his own giggle. But for the first time, he was shown love. He was going to learn just how loved he really was.’

Welcoming A Child With Down Syndrome

“14 years ago if you had said anything to me about 7 children, Down syndrome, adoption, miscarriage, and homeschool, I would have never thought that had anything to do with me or my future. I might have even prayed that some of those things would not be in my future.

I may never know the purpose of every hard or good time that I have been through, but I can look back and see how so many of them have grown me and led me to where I am today. If my life had gone according to my thoughts and plans, I would have missed out on all of this.

It has been almost 4 years since my husband and I together wrote the birth announcement of our 6th child, Colt, but the emotions still come flooding back every time I read it.

‘We wanted to take a minute to share an update with you on our newest member of the family, Colt. Turns out our little guy has been gifted with an extra chromosome, otherwise known as Trisomy 21 or Down syndrome…. This changes nothing for us in our mind. Psalm 139 hasn’t changed. Colt is just as fearfully and wonderfully made by our perfect Creator as our other five children so why should we feel any different? God didn’t make a mistake when Colt was being ‘intricately woven’ and ‘knitted together…’’

I remember crying while writing these words, not in grief, but in the realization of what a special gift we were given and just how much God was going to use our boy to impact our lives and this world.

I could have never begun to imagine just how soon and how greatly this extra special boy would change us though.

Down Syndrome’s Impact

Colt’s smile, love, funny faces, dancing, singing, insistence on high-fiving or hugging every single person who walks by, and more, add so much joy and love to our family. But, Colt has added so much more than that to our lives.

Our love for Colt opened our eyes to our fear of discomfort, disabilities, pursuit of ease, and the safe road that keep us from the joy of living a life in a deeper trust in God and a deeper love for others.

We had never thought about adoption before but through our son’s birth, our eyes were opened to the needs of children all around the world, with a special calling to those with Down syndrome and special needs.

When we learned about Reece’s Rainbow, a ministry whose mission is to find families for orphans with Down syndrome, and read that in other parts of the world these children are viewed as outcasts with no ability to learn or be functional members of society, languishing in mental institutions, hidden away from the world in shame — our heart broke for these children. We saw their faces and pictured Colt being born into those circumstances. Our family knew we must do something.

We stared at the babies on the Reece’s Rainbow website for almost a year, saying that we will adopt ‘one day.’ Then I saw the picture of a precious baby boy. He was only a few months old, abandoned to live his life in an orphanage because he had an extra chromosome.

Down Syndrome Adoption

That is when we realized we would cross the ocean or give our lives for every single one of our children, and the only thing holding us back from doing the same for a child, ‘our boy’ in an orphanage in Ukraine, was fear, and God is so much bigger than any of our fears. He is powerful and faithful, and we needed to trust in Him with the details of the plans that He had laid out for our family.

Adoption was a busy and somewhat frightening process. People sometimes say we are courageous or special for adopting a baby boy with Down syndrome from across the world, but the truth is, there is really nothing special about us. We just had faith, but sadly even that was weak at times, with moments of anxiousness and thoughts of ‘what are we doing?,’ just like anyone else would. The moment we walked into the orphanage and held Nic for the first time, we knew all of those moments of fears didn’t matter. Nic was our son.

As the first visitors he had ever had, he cuddled into my arms with the muscle tone of a newborn baby due to the first year of his life being spent alone in the orphanage crib. He didn’t know how to make eye contact. His head shook back and forth, a habit formed as a mechanism for soothing and stimulation.  He was frightened by the sound of his own giggle the first time we tickled him. But for the first time, he was shown love, and we knew he was going to learn just how loved he really was.

In January of 2017 we walked out the doors of that orphanage where he spent almost the first year of his life. Not a single person was there to say goodbye, but he arrived home to be greeted with the hugs, kisses and love of cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings!

We celebrated his first birthday one week later. The first year of his life was spent alone in an orphanage crib, but he celebrated his first birthday surrounded by a mom, dad and six siblings! What a beautiful day!

Nic has been home for 17 months and has been transformed by the power of love. Our baby that could barely lift his head, is now a happy toddler walking, laughing, singing, dancing, hugging, loving and being loved. He is doted on by his six older siblings and he and Colt are the best of friends and partners in crime. I can’t imagine life without him or where he would be now if we had succumbed to our worries and fears.

Down Syndrome Awareness

The world seeks the beautiful, perfect, or ‘normal.’ They are quick to look down on, mourn over or throw out anyone they deem different, inconvenient, less worthy or less able. And these are the very ones that God has chosen to use to free us from these worldly pursuits and teach others in ways that none of those that the world considers ‘great,’ ‘beautiful,’ ‘rich’ or ‘famous’ could ever do.

I began sharing the beauty of our boys on Instagram at ‘Downright Wonderful,’ to spread the message that Colt, Nic and every human are created exactly the way God wants them to be, unique individuals, with their own strengths, gifts and weaknesses, for His glory, fearfully and *downright* wonderfully made. I wanted to share the beauty in differences, but I never knew the joy and love that Colt and Nic would spread to so many in doing this.

We never knew we wanted a child with Down syndrome until Colt was born and we learned that what we never would have known to ask for was an amazing gift from God. We had never considered adoption, or adopting a child with Down syndrome, and now cannot imagine our life without Nic.

I am so thankful that God’s thoughts and ways are not mine and as the heavens are higher than the earth, so His ways are higher than mine, because if life had gone according to my thoughts and plans, I would have missed out on all of this.

I might still be looking at children with different abilities with a bit of sadness instead of celebrating those differences and seeing the gift in them. I might still fear a diagnosis instead of realizing what it really means to believe that God doesn’t make mistakes. I would have missed out on the smiles and laughter that Colt and Nic bring every day and never have seen just how powerful the innocent, unconditional love and joy of two little boys who happen to have an extra chromosome can be.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Kelsi Romero of Downright Wonderful. Submit your own story here, and subscribe to our best stories in our free newsletter here.