"Who Would Want a Child Like That?" We Would!

Editor's note. This first ran in our December 1998 issue and is one of the stories readers have most asked us to reprint. Read it and I think you will see why. There is an update at the end of Jean's wonderful account along with a new photo of Carissa and Claire.

Let me introduce you to two little girls affectionately called "Hot Potato Soup" and "Dessert." Their real names, of course, are far more traditional.

First, there is Carissa, now seven years old, born in Taiwan. Carissa was placed for adoption when she was diagnosed with Treacher-Collins Syndrome - - a genetic disorder resulting in severe deformities of the head. Who would want a child like that?

Her face is misshapen because it lacks cheekbones and a lower jaw. Her ears are in the wrong place (long hair takes care of that), but even with hearing aids she only hears every third word. Instead of hearing "on your next birthday you'll be eight," to Carissa that eight-word sentence sounds like "On ... birthday ... eight." Who would want a child like that?

Her speech is further hindered because, when her cleft palate and missing lower jaw caused her tongue to slip back and cut off her air supply, someone in Taiwan sewed her tongue to her lower lip. As a result, Carissa's poor hearing and mutilated tongue combine to make her speech difficult to understand. Who would want a child like that?

Who would want a child like that? Lots of pro-life people would! My daughter and her husband are among them, and they made Carissa part of our family through adoption.

She was almost two when she arrived from Taiwan. We greeted her with balloons and bears, but after months in an orphanage crib she was a frightened, withdrawn scrap of humanity. It wasn't until her new Dad, George, cradled her in his arms, jiggled her tummy, and said, "You're full of hot potato soup!" that she gave her first hesitant little smile.