NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There are between 20,000 and 40,000 children in foster care each year due to medical complexity. That's according to the Nature Scientific Journal's pediatric research. Now, a local family is sharing how they're ordinary people stepping up to help.
With little ones, a photoshoot may not be immediately perfect. No problem. Photographer Heather Hillhouse will get the shot. She snapped pictures of the Bone family, as their children laughed and posed.
Pictures are a big deal for Caleb and Ruchala Bone.
"They just capture our family exactly as it is in the moment," said Ruchala, referring to framed pictures around the house. "We end up with a lot of good photos. Cute kids help."
The Bones always knew they'd have a big family, but their whole outlook was changed when their first child, Griffin, was born with a heart condition.
"We spent a lot of time at Vanderbilt," Ruchala said. "He needed open heart surgery when he was three months old. We were kinda thrust into the world of medically complex kids that way."
"That changed the calculus for us at that point," added Caleb.
While at Vanderbilt, the Bones learned of the many medically complex children in the foster care system. They decided to do something about it. The first medically complex child they fostered lived with them for a while before returning to their family. Later, they adopted another child, Everitt.
"He was 11 weeks old and had been at Vanderbilt for 40 days," said Ruchala. "He had epilepsy, seizures that they weren't able to ever get control of, and cerebral palsy."
The Bones learned of Maurice, another child being treated at Vanderbilt.
"He was the cutest and still is the cutest there, so he was very easy to fall in love with," laughed Ruchala. "He needed a kidney transplant, and that wasn't something he was able to do while he was in state custody."
What the Bones learned was that by adopting Maurice through Youth Villages, they could speed up the process of getting him onto the kidney transplant list.
"Both Caleb and I are a potential live donor match, so we're working through the Vanderbilt Transplant Team to see if we'll be able to give him a live donor kidney transplant that way," said Ruchala.
The Bones' son Everitt, who lived with epilepsy and cerebral palsy, has died. On the day the Bones adopted Maurice, this family who values pictures so very much, brought a picture of Everitt.
"He is still part of our family," said Caleb. "He was a huge blessing to all of us."
"He always will be," added Ruchala. "It was such a joy to welcome him into our home."
The Bones are hoping to encourage other families in adopting or fostering a child.
"It's changed us in a lot of really great ways, our whole family is different because of it," said Caleb.
"We are very ordinary people," Ruchala continued. "It's been the greatest experience of our life. It brought us two sons. I'm glad we said, 'yes,' even when it was a little scary and there were a lot of unknowns. It's just the way we've chosen to live our life. When you know there's a child that can go home and is just waiting for a family. It makes the decision easier."
If you're interested in fostering or adopting a child, you can contact Youth Villages here.
