The McLaughlins met their first adopted daughter while living in China and volunteering in an orphanage. They had the rare and amazing opportunity to foster her until she and her new younger sister were adopted in Dec 2013. After returning to America, they learned their oldest daughter has a terminal muscle wasting disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Learning of this disease and having spent time with so many children with all different diagnoses in Asia, one comes to know intimately that every life has value and meaning despite any “limitations” they face. They describe their oldest daughter with SMA as passionate, vivacious, a winner of hearts and a changer of lives. Last year when they received news of another girl with SMA whose first parents wanted to dissolve their adoption, they knew undoubtedly they were being asked to step forward for her and to celebrate this precious child. She became part of their family in the fall of 2015. The McLaughlins have a heart and a calling for the medically fragile and for the aging-out whose life without a family is a scary prospect. To think of these children left to their own devices with limited or no education, no family, and no support, they feel called to action. “Our children are so much more than a disability or statistic by which they are defined as orphans. We cannot wait to bring our newest daughter into the precious folds of family and love, to call her Daughter. Our hearts and home are ready. Will you commit with us and help bring our daughter home?”
2/20/17—LOA RECVD
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at fortheloveoflaila.com/app