We did not plan to have as many children s we ended up with. We wanted no more than two, but then we found out that we couldn't have any, plus a neighbor adopted a baby boy from China, and we knew that we wanted to have children and/or do the same: adopt a child nobody else wanted.
We got the necessary papers together, had medical checkups, had a thorough background check, and endured several home studies. The adoption process was, as we discovered, long, tiring, and tedious, but we dreamed of the day when we would get "The Call", the call that waas to inform us that a child was on its way to our home.
We got "The Call" two months into our waiting period, a remarkably fast period of time. We had applied to adopt a child with special needs. The adoption agency we were hooked up with had called to say that a little boy from China had been matched up to our profile; he would be here within the month, as soon as he had been cleared to come to the United States. He would then be flown to America, where we could then pick him up. The boy's name was Wang Tsu. He was two years old and had, as we soon discovered, mild cerebral palsy.
That was ten years ago.
Wang Tsu (now known as Wayne Tsu Michael) is now twelve years old and has grown into a fine young man with outstanding moral character.
Wayne has since gained nine brothers and sisters. We have adopted four more boys and five girls from China, Mongolia, Ethiopia, Haiti, the United States (Ohio, Georgia, and New York), and Russia into our family, and it has been a joyful, wild, crazy adventure. We cannot imagine our family without any of the kids; they mean the world to us!
Besides Wayne, there are the girls (Demetria Lee -- 13, Willow Hope -- 12, Socorro Faith -- 11, Nichole Grace -- 7, and Mikah Alexandra -- 3), and the other boys (Scott Thomas -- 15, Matthew Simon -- 10, Seth Moses -- 8, and Caysen Daniel -- 3). All of the children have special needs.
Demetria has severe allergies to peanuts (all nuts, really), shellfish, gluten, and several medications; she has to carry an inhalator with her at all times and wear a special "Medic-Alert" necklace.
Willow, Scott, and Seth all have varying degrees of autism.
Socorro and Mikah have Down syndrome.
Nichole has severe brain damage caused by being shaken as a baby: she cannot see, talk, feed herself, dress herself, go to the bathroom on her own, or walk; she requires 24-hour care.
Matthew, like Wayne, has cerebral palsy, but he walks with crutches and leg braces.
As for Caysen, he has a rare seizure disorder and canot walk, talk, feed himself, or go to the potty on his own; like his sister, Nichole, he, too, requires care 24 hours a day.
Life within the Shuchat household is at best lively, and at its worst chaotic; but God somehow gives us the stamina, grace, and mercy to endure even the worst of crises or drama that pops up with regularity, and reminds us that even in the hard times, he is always there with us. We have learned to trust in Him, completely and fully, and He has never let us down, no, not even once, even when we lost our two previously fostered children, one to a drive by shooting, and the other, injuries sustained in a car accident. They were 13 and four; we still miss Shawn and Damaris each and every day. (This happened five and two years ago, respectively.)
We may end up adopting more children, but right now, we ar taking a break and are going to wait until Casen and Mikah are older and in school. We plan on enjoying our kids jsut as they are and thank God for each and every one of them. Our love for them has only multiplied, and we feel blessed to be their parents!
~Anna Shuchat, Bismark, North Dakota.
