Loving an Only Child Choosing to love an only child is the most difficult choice I have ever made. Years ago, I imagined myself as the mother of four boys. I have always thought of myself as a “boy mom,” the only girl in a wild house filled with male voices. We were on our way to building that “house” when Samson came. Then, his unique challenges began to fill our thoughts and alter our direction. One day we were 40 and I had let go of my original plan. Genetics forced us to consider the certainty of other biological children having the same neurological challenges as Samson. The foster system was my original idea – open our hearts to other children and wait until God chose the one we could keep. The possibilities of it all seemed dreamy to me at first. Reality arrived soon, however, when we learned that single children were often adopted by family, and that most opportunities to foster would likely be to siblings. Combined with Samson’s needs, adopting siblings seemed much more th
These stories describe our journey with Ben, our oldest son. Ben is a sweet and energetic redhead, born with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic mutation. My husband, Ryan, and I try to keep up with Ben and his two younger brothers. I intend to shed insight into raising a child with disabilities and pass on the wisdom we’ve earned over the past two decades.