Jai began his life in a government maternity hospital in Hyderabad, India. Nothing is known about his birth family. In fact, we don't know much about his first 5 years other than his medical history.   His birth parents most likely didn't think he would survive, and they certainly did not have had the means to meet all his medical needs.
Jai was born with Oto-Palato-Digital Syndrome type 1. He had third degree (the most severe) bilateral cleft palate and lip; has profound hearing loss in one ear and a narrow band of hearing in the other which allows him to hear some speech; heart defects, club foot, missing facial/ cranial bones, and facial differences. In 2009 we learned he also had a fused coronal suture and two extra sutures in his skull, doctors have never seen this in anyone before.

While in India Jai had five operations before he turned three. Doctors in Hyderabad repaired his lip and palate, created a pharyngeal flap, and released a tendon in his foot so he could walk.    

I first learned about Jai from an adoption agency in Seattle, Washington.  Although I looked at literally hundreds of other children, his bright little face kept calling me back.  As a single mother, I questioned whether I would have the means to see to his very significant needs.   I mentioned my dilemma to a good friend.  She said to me, "Terry, if this child keeps calling you then there is something there and you need to pursue it. There will be someone to stand in the gaps." I felt God speaking to me through her, it was all I needed to hear.  The next day I called the agency to say, "Let's bring Jai home."  There was a pause on the other end, and then the women explained to me that just because you want a child doesn't mean you're guaranteed to bring that child home. Okay, well, I knew that, but let's bring him home.  Then she said they hadn’t been able to get any information from the agency in India for months.  There was some political unrest in the state and no one knew what was going on.

After several calls, the Seattle agency determined they could no longer advocate for any child from that partner agency.  In fact, all agencies in that state were being closed down due to some illegal adoptions.  The family advocate explained it is close to impossible to move a child to a different agency. The reality is it would take a very long time and they didn't want anyone to face the possibility of not bringing a child home.  I took a deep breath and prayed Jai would get whatever he needed in life. Then I told myself God would either move the mountains standing between us or he had used Jai to bring me to a child who would be mine.

Fast forward six months…Following paperwork delays I lost another child I had begun pursuing.  That was a Wednesday, on Thursday a packet arrived about a third beautiful child whose needs were every bit as significant as Jai's.  Friday came, and with it the news Jai had been moved and was available to be adopted. Every time I thought about that third little boy I asked myself how could I go to India and not bring Jai home. The answer was, there would be no going to India and not bringing Jai home. Jai would be part of my family.

Nine months later nearly all the legal paperwork was complete.  In December, one last part of the adoption process remained and I elected to have it done here.  February came and there was still no news about Jai.  On February 28 I was laid off from my job along with 500 other people. What would happen to Jai now? Any day I would get the call to go to India. How could I say, sorry, you'll just have to wait for another family because I can't bring you home now?  He already knew what his family looked like, what his house looked like, his cats.  A month to the day later, Jai's little sister and I stepped on the plane to bring him home. We went on faith that we would, indeed, come home with Jai yet we knew at any turn something could go wrong.  Nothing did, and Jai is now a part of our family as I had always hoped for. 

In the three years since coming home, Jai has received hearing aids, had his jaw widened, and a bone graft to his premaxilla. He had major craniofacial surgery in June of ’09.  This surgery was to move his eye orbits into alignment and to bring his eyes closer together.  Following complaints of chest pain, we have verified that his heart defects have cleared on their own.  We have many, many surgeries to come--most on his face but some will be on his foot to make it more functional.   

In addition to Jai's medical needs, he requires a great deal of assistance with his school work. He has an individualized educational plan and receives help in reading, ESL, math, writing and his other studies.  Hopefully this is all due to catching up linguistically and making up for lack of instruction prior to coming to the United States. He has requested to be checked for learning disabilities and we are in the process of testing.  At home we spend anywhere from an hour to four hours daily working on his studies.  He puts in a lot of effort, but some things prove very difficult even though we go over them time and again.  He reads on his own every day which makes me really proud of him; he is developing a good habit there.

Following Jai's homecoming I made the difficult decision to return to school.  I was unable to find work paying near enough to support my family and decided to attempt finishing school and taking care of Jai and his sister.  School has taken longer than expected, and now I face work, school, and being mom. I cannot work full time or Jai will lose his absolutely essential medical coverage.  I must work enough to keep our house and I must work hard to finish school as quickly as possible.  It is a stressful time, trying to balance these three priorities and seeing to Jai's extra needs.