Home for the Holidays
Adoptive family celebrates Christmas together, works to adopt third sibling

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

REHOBOTH — Karen Kros' plans for motherhood haven't quite worked out like she once thought they would.

But for Kros, that has been a good thing.

Four years ago, Kros was a single woman who worked with other people's children in her job as the food service director at Rehoboth Christian School. But she dreamed of adopting a child and having her own small family of two.

When Kros' adopted daughter, Genese, arrived from Haiti in December 2003, her arrival was like a magical Christmas gift. Kros' dreams for a child and a family were fulfilled, and she happily settled into her life as a single mother of a young daughter.

Genese, however, had other plans.

The child missed her little brother, Evensky, and asked her new mother to adopt him also. After much thought and prayer, Kros agreed. She started the adoption process, and she and Genese began a number of fund-raising projects to help raise money for the adoption fees. Genese's adoption fees had been nearly $9,000 and Evensky's fees turned out to be more costly.

On March 31st of this year Evensky arrived the happy end to a very long adoption process that was slowed down by lots of paperwork and bureaucratic speed bumps related to Haiti's political unrest.

Nearly nine months later, six-year-old Evensky's English skills are good, he's having great fun playing with his eight-year-old sister, he's enjoying snow for the first time in his life, and he's about ready to celebrate Christmas in his new home.

"I love being a mom," said Kros of her adoption experience. It's great to have children to come home to, she said, and "there's nothing better" than to be greeted by kids' hugs at the end of a school day.

But Kros, who once planned to adopt just one child, is now working hard to adopt one more child Lilly, the 11-year-old sister of Genese and Evensky. Her dreams have expanded once again, and she's hoping to have three children to celebrate Christmas with next year.

"We would love to have her in the summer," Kros said, "but I don't know if that will happen."

Genese's adoption took 10 month, she explained, and Evensky's adoption took 18 months. Since her son's adoption, the Haitian government has instituted new adoption regulations, Kros added. But the paperwork for Lilly's adoption is now in Haiti, and Kros is awaiting an updated birth certificate for the child.

Lilly's adoption will be the last for the family, said Kros, who admitted she struggled for about a month over the decision to adopt a third child. Genese and Evensky's other siblings in Haiti live with their biological mother or grandmother, leaving Lilly the only child from the family still living in an orphanage.

In addition to the challenges of the adoption process, Kros said she knows there will be challenges involved in adding another child to the family. Although Lilly is 11 years old, she never attended school prior to being placed in the orphanage three years ago. Academically, she has some catching up to do since she is only now at the second grade level. Physically, Lilly has some concerns too since she only weighs 50 pounds.

But like with Evensky, Kros believes door are opening for the adoption, and things will work out for the three siblings to be united as a family here.

"The bond between Genese and Lilly is very strong," Kros said, adding that it was very traumatic for the sisters to be separated from each other after living together for five years. Kros herself is looking forward to establishing her own bond with her new daughter.

"She already calls me mom," she said. "She's very excited to be coming," she added. Kros said she communicates with Lily through e-mails to the orphanage and has talked personally with her on the phone twice.

Kros and her children are now in the process of raising money to help pay for Lilly's adoption fees. Genese and Evensky are recycling newspapers and aluminum cans to raise money, and they have helped their mother with sales of food items like steaks and cheesecakes. Bethany Christian Reformed Church has also established an adoption fund to receive charitable donations for the family.

Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.