22 years ago, Leah Spring gave birth to her third child, and named her Angela. Her little daughter was born with Down Syndrome. All these years later, Leah, now 51, and living in Eagan, Minnesota, is now the adoptive mother of five more children… all with the same condition as Angela.
Leah, an Army veteran, had a hysterectomy after giving birth to Angela. But it sure did not stop her desire to want to be a mom again and again. She was inspired to do it when she went on a trip to Serbia and Bulgaria with a friend and that friend adopted a special needs child.
Leah’s partner is 61-year-old Dean Ellingson. And although they are not married, they share equal guardianship with all of their children: Roman, Axel, Abel, Audrey, Asher and Amos. All but one were adopted from Serbia. Amos was born in Ukraine and adopted from another state. All of the children are non-verbal except Angela and Roman. Some have autism. There, of course, have been obstacles throughout the years, but Leah says all of her children are a complete joy.
Says Leah: ‘Adoption isn’t about doing for yourself, it is about doing for someone else. Adopting older, institutionalized kids is not something you should do because you want to do something that feels good. You should do it because you see a need and you fill that need. So that is what we did. We filled a need.’
Leah’s first experience raising a special needs child, though, was with her own biological daughter, Angela. Says Leah of raising all of them: ‘There are small rewards that come with that. Some of those present clearly, by making us laugh, smile, or feel pride in one of the kids’ accomplishments. On the stressful days we may have to dig deep to find the rewards in that day.’
But in the end, there are always rewards.
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