Family Stories
Please find past families' stories who have undergone the adoption process and grew their family along the way.
Ramos-Tetz Family
It was September of 2020 and the smoke from a wildfire a few miles south of our home
required us to evacuate. Claudia had been training for months to compete in a marathon that
was only a few weeks away and she had a 20-mile run scheduled for the weekend. We packed our car with all our most precious possessions and nervously left our home so she could compete. After her run on Sunday, we were sitting at an Italian restaurant refueling her body with carbohydrates (and full transparency, a glass of red wine) when a phone call came in from her sister in Mexico saying, “It’s national news on Facebook that triplets were born last month (August 15) and they are hoping to find a couple that will keep
them together...are you two interested?” We looked at each other for a half a second and said,
“YES!”
Yes, triplets…It was not our plan, but we’ve always wanted to be parents, so being in our late 40’s, it seemed like a “do or die” moment. We were not prepared for what was about to happen
next...financially, relationally, emotionally, mentally, and How were we going to afford this? what about our jobs? How on earth does this work? The questions kept coming.
Fortunately, neither of us are afraid of hard work; and God has been faithful throughout the
process. It was divine intervention that we ended up working with our adoption program and our Program Coordinator, Julie, used to live in our city and attend the same
church. The attorney they use in Mexico,, has the same last name as the
pediatrician that we had selected prior to meeting her. Most importantly, it felt right. As we moved forward in faith, things slowly began to unfold, we started getting answers. We were really going to become a family of five.
A little background about who we are. We have been married 27 years. Claudia is
an immigrant from Mexico. After graduating with a business degree from Linfield College, she
started out as an Educational Assistant in the schools and saw the barriers for the groups of
students who are at a disadvantage/marginalized place and sought to be an advocate by positioning herself in roles of influence for equity, diversity, and inclusion. She went back to get her teaching license and was an ESL (English as a Second Language) for 8 years. Then went on to earn her administrative license and has been both a VP/AP and Principal for the past 10 years(at all levels, k-12).
Tim is in his 29th year of working in middle school. He LOVES this age
and focuses on relationships and anti bullying programs. He has taught all the core subjects and
some electives . He also coached year around (volleyball, football, basketball, and track and field).
Once we accepted the girls' referral, another type of marathon began. We took a leave of absence from our jobs and headed to Mexico to complete the adoptions. ( did we mention that they are triplets?!) What we thought was going to maybe a six month venture, turned out to be much longer. We are so grateful for all the support we received from family, friends and grants from non profit foundations such as the Burkholder Family Foundation. It takes a village. When we look back we are not sure how we endured all the big and little setbacks with one step forward and two steps back, but are happy to say we crossed the finish line.
The short story is that we have been blessed, after more than a year, our family is complete. We want to Thank the Burkholder Family Foundation for helping us, sending money just in the right time. We couldn't have been more shocked, happy and blessed. We appreciate you so much. THANK YOU!
Our three beautiful girls are home. Our hands and hearts are full.
Thank you!
Tim and Claudia Ramos-Tetz
Regina Camila, Rene Ximena (Lupita) and Renata Victoria
We were led to adopt after our sweet baby girl, Ayla who died at two months old. She had Trisomy 18, which is a chromosome disorder. We wanted to honor her, our angel in heaven as we built our family.
We chose International adoption and the country of China because China was stable. We needed stability at this time. We were matched with a beautiful baby. This baby girl had a VSD heart defect that was repaired. We worked for the Burkholder Family Foundation ( then KC Kids Connection) and with some monetary help from them, many fundraisers and help from so many others, we traveled to China to bring our girl home. She was ten months old, full of spice, and such a blessing! She is involved with the Canton Playhouse and had the lead as Annie in her last play!
Fast forward to a year later, and I found myself on the phone with Chris, telling her we were ready to make the trip to China one more time. Again, the Burkholder Family Foundation came through for us again, Lanzi came home. We were expecting some issues and didn't know what to expect. She had been listed as mentally challenged at the orphanage. Turns out, she didn't like being in an orphanage. We brought her home at three years old. She is doing great in school, is a little sweetheart and plays lacrosse. She will tell you she is a tom boy, loving all sports, watching as well as playing them! When we brought Lanzi home, we thought our family was complete.
God had other plans…Across the globe was a little boy on an adoption site. Ming had Thalasemia , a blood disorder that requires blood transfusions every three weeks. His blood cells don't produce hemoglobin. Children with this often don't live to adulthood. But once in the United States with our healthcare system, he would have a chance at a full life.
We said YES AGAIN… What we didn't know at the time was that he would get to be part of a medical trial that has the ability to cure him 100%! This summer he had a stem cell transplant using his own stem cells and is now home and hasnt had to have a blood transfusion ( he usually requires a blood transfusion every 3 weeks) . We are hopeful that he is cured! Ming is a sweet, gentle soul and plays lacrosse.
We are grateful to the Burkholder Family foundation for helping us to complete our family through adoption,
THANK YOU so much!
Shank Family
Hello, my name is Jackie Shank. I’m a single mom to one (hopefully soon to be two) beautiful adopted daughters from China. I started my adoption journey in 2016 after unsuccessfully waiting for years to meet the right guy. I wanted to be a mother and decided to do it on my own through adoption. I was matched with my oldest daughter Summer in early 2017, she was two at the time. Summer was a special needs child in the China adoption program. She has a rare vascular tumor that has required a significant amount of medical intervention but is now doing very well.
Summer is now eight. She is healthy, happy, and thriving. I am so incredibly blessed to have this amazing child in my life. My adoption journey is still a work in progress. In 2018 I started the adoption process again to bring home another special needs daughter from China. I was matched with three-year-old daughter in early 2020. I was to travel in the spring of 2020 to bring my new daughter home when the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down. All adoption processing and travel was suspended. Adoption processing has finally after 3 years resumed (albeit very slowly) processing about 2 months ago. My waiting daughter in China is now six and has seen pictures and videos of our family and knows that she has an American mama and sister waiting to come get her (really really hoping in the next year). Her medical needs are unknown, but it is suspected she may need a liver transplant.
We could not have done any of this without the incredible generosity and support of the Burkholder Foundation and are so incredibly thankful. The delays in this current adoption have caused the cost to nearly double (constantly renewing paperwork and home studies and now increased price of travel). We could not have done it without this foundation.
Additionally, in a time where I have largely felt forgotten and hopeless waiting to bring my baby home, the Burkholder Foundation has offered me encouragement and hope where I’ve otherwise struggled to find it.
An Adoption Story or two (or five)
A few years ago, if you asked me if I would be spending over 6 months in Europe helping an orphanage, I would have thought you were crazy. God has led our family down a path I could have never predicted. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
Two years ago, my husband saw his former military friend go through an adoption process with a Ukrainian 10-year-old. They spoke Live on Facebook about their long adventure in Ukraine. I noticed their newly adopted son was sitting there turning on and off a lamp for about 10 minutes. He was mesmerized by it. They volunteered for an organization that brings orphans from Ukraine to homes in America for a summer or winter. They said there was a boy who has dreamed of coming to America and has been on the list for 3 years. The director of his orphanage said he’s such a good kid and really wanted him to have the experience. They asked us to consider him. We prayed about it and felt Gods calling to bring him home for the summer of 2021. Within days of meeting him, we knew he was meant
to be in our family. Just 5 days into our hosting, it was his birthday. We had kept it simple not wanting to overwhelm him and trigger any trauma he might have. He wanted to experience a pizza delivery and have a birthday cake. As he opened his gifts, we could see him get emotional. He told us that he wants us to be his forever family. At that moment, we knew we felt the same.. Our dream for adoption was verified that it was God's calling for our family. We started working hard on bringing home our son forever. With Ukraine, international adoptions
can take anywhere from 9 to 12 months. So, our goal was to have him home before the next summer.
When our son left at the end of summer, a part of our hearts left with him. It was difficult for our whole family and our home felt empty. My youngest daughter called for him around the house and my middle daughter slept the first few days in his room. We had purchased him a phone. He called every day before bed and said goodnight. It was his favorite time of the day, when he was with us. Getting tucked
in bed, getting big hugs, saying prayer all were important to him. He tended to quickly jump in bed and as I entered the room. He was already with his arms spread apart and waiting for hugs. So, each night in Ukraine, I still tried to tuck him into bed. We talked about his day, I told him how loved he was and said
good night.
We were able to bring him home again for the winter. He was able to spend December and January at home. This second time hosting him was different since he knew we were in the adoption process.
His guard was down and he saw us as his family. When he had to return at the end of January, he didn’t want to bring many of his gifts back with him. He didn’t want them stolen or broken by other kids. He knew it was only a few months till we would see him in Ukraine and he would be home forever. We had seen that Russia was building troops along the Ukraine border. We kept praying that a war would
not begin. As President Biden announced, the war was imminent. Our hosting organization had applied to rehost the kids and to get them back to the families. It was denied as they were hopeful war would not happen. When war started, our son was located in a town Russia had interest in taking over quickly. I remember him calling me the first day of war and hearing the alarms and the fear in
his voice. I remember helping him pack a backpack and reminding him to wear comfortable shoes and a thick coat when they could evacuate. He
and his entire orphanage within a few days were overtaken, hiding in a shelter, and unable to evacuate safely. Only 4 days in, the cell towers were damaged, his water supply was contaminated, and his orphanage ran low on food. We ended up going two weeks without talking as the kids lived in the bomb shelter.
The staff that stayed behind helped the kids paint the dark and depressing bomb shelter to entertain the kids and to make it feel happier and lighter for them. This was the first time in 6 months that I didn’t say goodnight to him. I remember him calling me the first day of war and hearing the alarms and the fear in
his voice. I prayed daily. I remember getting a call from another mom that
artillery was going off near the kids and falling to the ground and praying. I begged God to part a pathway of safety to let this orphanage of 125 kids to evacuate. I remember saying if you could part the Red Sea, you can part a path for their safety. And in March, I get a call that the director of his orphanage
and the whole town came together to get the kids out. I remember turning on CNN and even they reported a convoy of vehicles evacuating and all the challenges they faced. Knowing my soon to be son was in that convey, was so scary. His evacuation was a miracle within itself. Their journey getting out is a nightmare that I would never imagine even as an adult experiencing. Once they found out Poland was
full, his orphanage was sent to Italy.
Within 14 hours, I was on a plane with 2 others from the nonprofit organization for hosting. We made it to the kids’ location within 48 hours of their arrival. The kids were exhausted and in need of rest and nutritious meals. We bought some essentials they needed, as well as offer English classes and activities
to keep them busy during the days. I had only booked my flight for 2 weeks, but after seeing their need, I decided to stay behind and help them. My first trip was for a month.
