Back in 2022, True, a five-year-old under the care of social services, was dropped off at Children’s Nebraska in Omaha for a seven-hour heart procedure. No parent, guardian, or caseworker was to be found. True had been struggling with complications from a previous open-heart surgery for his congenital heart disease, a condition that caused parts…
Back in 2022, True, a five-year-old under the care of social services, was dropped off at Children’s Nebraska in Omaha for a seven-hour heart procedure. No parent, guardian, or caseworker was to be found.
True had been struggling with complications from a previous open-heart surgery for his congenital heart disease, a condition that caused parts of his heart to be underdeveloped. Unfortunately, his caseworker had COVID-19 at the time, leaving True to face the surgery alone.
A fateful encounter
After spotting him in the pre-op room, pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist Dr. Amy Beethe “could not stop staring” at the sweet child’s face throughout the surgery, CBS News reported.
“It just took me back that this four-year-old kid was undergoing heart surgery and no one was there,” she told KETV.
Despite already having six children of her own, Beethe couldn’t shake the connection she felt to True and called her husband Ryan to discuss making him their seventh child.
“I just said, ‘we need to have a talk when we get home and I need ya to have an open mind,’” Beethe recalled.
Though initially “hesitant,” Ryan nonetheless agreed that “it just felt right.” A year and a half later, True was adopted.
“It didn’t take long to fall in love with him and know that we needed him in our family,” Ryan told KETV.
The story doesn’t end there, however
Beethe and her husband knew that True had five siblings in the same foster care situation and not only worked to get them adopted into stable homes, but also into homes within Beethe’s community—including her sister, her sister-in-law, and a coworker. This ensured the entire family stayed in close contact.
The couple even adopted True’s older sister, Laney, bringing the family to eight children in total. While the now 10-year-old will need a full heart transplant in the future, he won’t be facing those challenges alone.
The effects of sibling separation in foster care
Sibling separation is recognized as a significant, yet common issue in the child welfare system. It is estimated that between 53% and 80% of siblings in foster care are separated from one or more of their brothers or sisters. This is either because the foster home is not large enough to accommodate them, because of different care needs, or because of the timing of their removal. It makes an already traumatic situation worse—potentially leading to long-term mental health issues, substance abuse, academic struggles, difficulties maintaining close relationships, and a lasting feeling of rejection.
The fact that Beethe could keep all six siblings together is nothing short of a miracle. She hopes their story will inspire others to consider taking in a foster child: “They are like a little flower bud that just blossoms. If more people would do it, it would change the world.”
