"I am very glad that my mom didn't let a little problem like a cleft lip and palate make her decide to not adopt me."

 

I was born in Korea, and right away I had problems. First, I was born with a birth defect, and it was a cleft lip and palate. Second, my birth giver couldn't take care of me, so she signed me over to the adoption agency. Then things got a heck of a lot better for me almost right away. You see, that was when my mom and my dad adopted me.

My mom did not know about clefts when she said she wanted me. She says that she knew she would learn, like every other mother of a child with a cleft. And boy, did she ever learn. My mom is the one who started Wide Smiles, and she teaches lots of people about clefts now. She says that if it were not for me, and my brother and my sister (but mostly me, because I was her first child) there would not be a Wide Smiles. That makes me feel proud.

What it is like growing up with a cleft is...I don't know. I have a very normal life. I like wrestling and my favorite wrestler is Ric Flair, and my favorite wrestling team is the Four Horsemen, and my favorite wrestling association is WCW. I also like classic TV, like "All in the Family." And I have lots of friends at school. And I don't think my life would be any different if I did not have a cleft. None of the kids at school thinks anything of it, and I don't either. I had some surgeries, and they were kind of yucky. But I don't really think about them much, unless some other kid wants to know what it was like, and how I can help him. I wore braces for three years too, but I am wearing retainers now.

What it is like being adopted is...not any different from not  being adopted, I think. I love my mom and my dad, and I feel like I was always their son. It is true that I don't look like them in my face, but I think we are just alike in our hearts. I am proud of my mom, and I am very proud to be her son.

I am twelve years old now, and I am in the seventh grade. I have had a very good life, and I am a very happy person. I am very glad that my mom didn't let a little problem like a cleft lip and palate make her decide to not adopt me. I love her very much. In my heart, she has always been my mom.

Jacob

 

 

 

Back to Wide Smiles

www.widesmiles.org

 

Adoption Page Keeper

Debra Shiveley Welch

email:  Merribuck@aol.com

 

 

Original Oil "Eternity" for Stands With Wings

logo used with the generous permission of

Jonathan Earl Bowser

http://www.jonathonart.com/lotu.html