Immense Gratitude and Appreciation

After six months home with their son, Jacqueline and Tracy Probst write an update and thank you letter to the people who helped fund their Holt Families Not Finances (FNF) grant — and helped make Spencer a part of their family. 

As we think about the fact that we are nearing in on six months since Spencer was officially part of our family, we can’t help but feel immense gratitude and appreciation for all of the different ways that our journey was supported. We want to thank Holt and the FNF program, specifically, for the financial assistance you provided us. It allowed the international adoption process, which seemed at first to be financially out of our reach, to become a reality.

We would also like to give you an update as to how Spencer has adjusted to our family since coming home. One of the most incredible aspects of this entire process is finding out upon our arrival home that Spencer’s medical file was inaccurate. In fact, when the specialists at the University of Washington ran all of the tests in order to determine the status of his syphilis (one of the major diagnoses in his file which made it difficult for him to be placed), they were shocked to find that not only was there no active syphilis, he had never contracted it in the first place! The doctors think that what likely happened was that since Spencer’s mother did have syphilis, the doctors in China just went with the assumption after birth that Spencer did too — without ever testing him.

Spencer spent the first four months at home and it was clear that he was ready for a more active and social environment! He now attends preschool during the day with his sister (same age) and we got word that he was accepted into a Mandarin/English preschool for the fall. We’re thrilled that he’ll be able to grow in his knowledge of the Chinese language and culture. During preschool, he also receives speech therapy from the local school district and he is picking up new words every day! Spencer is an incredibly happy boy who loves us and loves life.

Some of his favorite American things are Lilo & Stitch (the Disney movie), spaghetti and meatballs, and play kitchens. We thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts, for helping us to bring him home. Being with him makes it seem like he was always ours to begin with.

Jacqueline and Tracy Probst | Holt Adoptive Parents