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One year after adopting their daughter, who was born without arms or legs, Adrianne and Jason Stewart decided to share with the world how blessed they feel to have her as a member of their family
Last week, Adrianne posted a video on Love What Matters, a site dedicated to sharing inspiring stories. Maria, now 3 years old, she wrote, “has given us far more than we will ever give her. She is so full of joy and light, and is an inspiration to all who meet her.”
That video has since been viewed more than 800,000 times and shared over 7,000 times. It tells the story that began when the Stewarts, a Utah family who have two biological daughters and one son adopted from the Philippines, decided to adopt another child.
While they hadn’t discussed adopting a special needs child, the adoption agency sent over a list of hard-to-place children, including a picture of Maria, who had been living at a special needs orphanage in the Philippines since she was 6 months old. They were immediately struck by her beautiful smile, and knew that they wanted her to be a part of their family.
“When we found our daughter we did not think that we were qualified or prepared enough to parent a child like her, a child born without arms and legs, but we knew that we could love her and that loving her was what mattered most!” Adrianne wrote in the post.
According to a CNN report, the Stewarts went public with their story in order to encourage other families to consider adopting special needs children and to encourage women who may have considered aborting children with similar conditions to reconsider.