Extra-Special Family Has Plenty Of Room
By
Jay Michaels
Story Created:
Oct 29, 2012 at 5:40 PM MDT
Story Updated:
Oct 29, 2012 at 5:40 PM MDT
Hansen, Idaho (KMVT-TV) If you've never had a child before, it's a
big job figuring out how to care for your kid, even if they don't have
any special needs.
At first, Kevin and Joy McClain from Hansen
were foster parents. Then they realized they wanted to adopt a little
boy they were taking care of named Billy. But that was just the first
of their adventures in adoption, because so far they've adopted seven
kids with special needs.
Adoptive Parent Joy McClain says, “The
autistic spectrum disorder, some attention deficit, some cerebral
palsy, and our youngest two have Down syndrome.”
The two
youngest kids are a pair of eight year old boys from Ukraine named
Stephen and Caleb. The rest of the McClain clan includes Billy, who's
now 18 years old, Teresa, James, Scheri, Caleb, and Stephen. Abby is
eleven years old, and is the latest addition from Bulgaria.
Billy McClain says, “We go to church, learn about God, read the Bible, and sing, listen to the pastor.”
Joy
McClain says she and her husband Kevin didn't really choose Billy
because he had special needs. She says he was just their kid, and the
special needs came along with him. But this family of nine has plenty
of room for all these personalities, which seem to fit together pretty
well.
Scheri McClain, 16, says, “We have our ups and downs. But together as a family we seem to make things work.”
A
free informational workshop on adoption called “If You Were Mine” will
be held this Saturday, November 3rd beginning at 8:30 a.m. That will be
held at the Hansen Assembly of God Church, 319 Second Avenue East in
Hansen.
http://www.kmvt.com/news/local/Extra-Special-Family-Has-Plenty-Of-Room-176343141.html