Acts of Kindness
Couple adopt a malnourished 7-year-old that looks like a baby and leave him unidentifiable
It's incredibly shocking to see him now.
Irene Markianou
09.02.20

When Priscilla and David Morse got married, they knew they wanted to have a big family. And they soon started adding members to it by having two sons together. But, the Tennessee couple didn’t intend to stop there. Their motto was “the Morse, the merrier”!

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Indeed, in 2012, the couple adopted a little girl, McKenzie, from Russia. The 3-year-old had Down’s Syndrome, but this didn’t make them hesitate to take her home. On the contrary, they were excited to be joining sweet McKenzie in her life journey and help her reach her full potential.

At that point, the couple thought they might need to take a break from adopting, and focus on their three children. But then, in 2014, Priscilla saw a picture of a malnourished boy in Bulgaria who nobody was adopting, and who was bound to die unless his medical conditions were immediately addressed.

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After a long discussion with her husband, Morse decided she would be the one to provide a family for the little boy, so she started running things in order to adopt young Ryan.

Ryan, who had been literally wasting away in an orphanage in Bulgaria, was almost 7 years old but looked like a newborn due to his medical conditions and, most importantly, malnutrition. The boy suffered from cerebral palsy, microcephaly, club feet, and scoliosis. All these made potential adopters reject him, but not the Morses. This family knew they could and should help Ryan live a happy life despite his issues.

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“Everyone deserves a family,” Priscilla Morse says. “No one should be written off if they have special needs just because it’s going to be hard. Life is hard anyway, so you adjust and you learn, because these kids – they are so worthy.”

So, when all the adoption papers were gathered and signed, Priscilla took Ryan back in the USA with her, and from there to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. There, it was for the first time in her life that she saw doctors cry when they faced little Ryan.

His condition seemed irreversible, but with lots of effort, love, and persistence, the little boy made it, and about a month later, he followed his new family home.

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“It was intense for a long time,” Priscilla says, “and I think you kind of guard yourself against just how serious it is so you can push through every day and do what you have to do.”

By then, Ryan had gained significant weight, and he didn’t look like a newborn baby anymore. Now, five years later, he has made impressive progress thanks to his doctors and thanks to his loving and supportive family.

His clubbed feet and spinal rod placement were rectified and proper nutrition helped him come out of his newborn clothing to a child’s size 5/6. Also, he is now able to communicate using speech, something that once sounded like a dream.

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Since Ryan’s adoption, Priscilla and David have also added two new members to their family, an adoptive daughter, Gigi, from Ukraine, while they had another biological son, Will.

The family is certainly an inspiration and they make sure they share their unique family life on Instagram, while they have also created a Facebook group for those who want to see what they are up to.

You can watch the video with all the details of this touching story below.

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