{"id":57856,"date":"2015-03-21T10:13:14","date_gmt":"2015-03-21T14:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=57856"},"modified":"2015-03-21T18:40:01","modified_gmt":"2015-03-21T22:40:01","slug":"adopted-toddler-with-down-syndrome-part-of-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/adopted-toddler-with-down-syndrome-part-of-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Adopted toddler with Down syndrome officially becomes part of a family"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Last May, California parents Andy and Mercedes Lara shared <a href=\"\/news\/open-hearts-couple-adopts-baby-with-down-syndrome\/\">the incredible story of Sunflower Mae<\/a>, a little girl they adopted just days after her birth. Sunflower was born with a joyful spirit, exuberant personality, and Down syndrome.<\/p>\n<p>Sunflower&#8217;s loving parents have documented their journey of adoption, special needs, and growth with countless individuals through\u00a0social media.<\/p>\n<p>On March 11, after years of waiting, Sunflower&#8217;s adoption was finalized. For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worlddownsyndromeday.org\/wdsd-2015\">World Down Syndrome Day,<\/a> the Laras sent Live Action the following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b2EPpYzO_pk&amp;list=PLEYHv1xoqrIixpw8W82TKr4EfvWGXI_TT&amp;index=1\">video<\/a>, celebrating their journey with their adopted daughter.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b2EPpYzO_pk?list=PLEYHv1xoqrIixpw8W82TKr4EfvWGXI_TT\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Tragically, individuals with Down syndrome are often undervalued, and many babies with Down syndrome are aborted. Sunflower&#8217;s story is a testimony to the beauty of all life, and her parents are a beautiful example of unconditional love.<\/p>\n<p>Sunflower&#8217;s father, Andy, shared his excitement and relief to know that Sunflower Mae is officially a permanent member of their beautiful family. Andy told <a href=\"http:\/\/liveaction.org\/\">Live Action<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>To sum up the past 21 months, in waiting to finalize her adoption, we feel honored and blessed to be her parents.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-61304\" src=\"https:\/\/www.liveactionnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sunflower2.jpg\" alt=\"sunflower2\" width=\"550\" height=\"289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sunflower2.jpg 550w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sunflower2-300x158.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Last Wednesday was filled with joyful tears, smiles, and cheers. While we&#8217;ve been her parents since we took physical custody of her, something changed for me once we finalized. \u00a0I did feel a deeper sense of connection to her &#8211; maybe a richer understanding of my responsibility and love for her, knowing that completely and legally, she is ours to care for and raise as our own. We feel a great sense of conclusion, as we&#8217;ve been waiting for this for some time.<\/p>\n<p>Every adoption is different. It all comes down to subjective timelines determined by state offices approving your funding options, and all that causes delays in one way or another.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-61343\" src=\"https:\/\/www.liveactionnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/laras1-700x520.jpg\" alt=\"laras1\" width=\"474\" height=\"352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/laras1-700x520.jpg 700w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/laras1-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/laras1.jpg 1646w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For us, it took 21 months to get to this day; for some, it can be shorter, and for some longer.<\/p>\n<p>Having her though since she was three days old helped to pass the time, as she needs so much love and care. \u00a0We\u2019re very happy to be through her finalization!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"Normal__Char\">You can read about what it&#8217;s like to raise a child with Down syndrome from \u00a0Sunflower&#8217;s father, Andy, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texasrighttolife.com\/a\/1414\/Meet-the-Laras-whose-toddler-Sunflower-Mae-has-Down-syndrome#.VQzIWPnF8xk\">here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last May, California parents Andy and Mercedes Lara shared the incredible story of Sunflower Mae, a little girl they adopted just days after her birth. Sunflower was born with a joyful spirit, exuberant personality, and Down syndrome. Sunflower&#8217;s loving parents have documented their journey of adoption, special needs, and growth with countless individuals through\u00a0social media. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":61342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[804,429,3316,3449],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Adopted toddler with Down syndrome officially becomes part of a family - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/adopted-toddler-with-down-syndrome-part-of-family\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adopted toddler with Down syndrome officially becomes part of a family - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last May, California parents Andy and Mercedes Lara shared the incredible story of Sunflower Mae, a little girl they adopted just days after her birth. 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