Nia was 4 years old when brought to her forever home to live with Mom and Dad, an older sister and older brother. She was born in a somewhat rural town in China.  Nia's right arm didn't form correctly at birth, and she has a little right arm with a little hand and a single digit.

Her Mom and Dad were a bit nervous when they decided to adopt a child with a limb difference.  We struggled a good bit with the unknowns of bringing an older child into the family, as well as the issues of dealing with her limb difference. We spent time talking with some wonderful folks from Colorado UnLimbited Children in Colorado, as well as a woman from Unlimbited Possibilities in New York who also adopted a girl with a limb difference from China. We prepared for the transition with our older children by attending a Colorado UnLimbited Children meeting before Nia's arrival in order to ease any concerns they might have.  Our 8-year-old's comment on the way home from the meeting was that she was a little bit scared at first, but quickly found that the children there were "just like other children."

From the day we met her, Nia has shown us that she can do anything she wants to do. She has a tremendously positive attitude and her personality is such that she will overcome any obstacles she faces because of her 'little hand'. She is very active and is already taking gymnastics classes like her sister. Although some things are hard for her, she doesn't get frustrated and keeps on trying. We don't expect it to be long before she is swinging from the monkey bars along with her brother and sister.

Although she has only been with our family a short time, we have seen some issues already that we are not sure as to the best way to handle.  She has told us that she "doesn't like her little hand." She told her sister that she wants to play Game Boy when her hand gets bigger.  She doesn't like it when other children stare at her little hand, and is clearly upset when curious children will reach out and touch.  But we accept our role to help her deal with the issues and to help educate other children and parents as to what is and is not appropriate.