Stories & Essays: Chosen Ones

In China, children with albinism face a bleak future. Often abandoned and ostracized, most will never be educated, marry or find a job in their country. Adoption offers hope for a chosen few.

Kim Anderson was facing an empty nest and looking for a way to do more to serve God when a photo of a Chinese orphan caught her eye. "That's our child," she thought. Now eight years later, Kim and her husband, Steve, have adopted four special needs children. The three boys have albinism.

Ironically, the same rare condition that stigmatized the boys individually in China, reinforces their brotherhood in the United States. Elijah, Paul and Micah's snow white hair and pigmentless skin, create the appearance of a biological connection. Despite their age difference, people often mistake them for triplets. What may be shocking and novel on one child is normalizing on all three.

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Paul Anderson, 9, squints in the light. Albinism is a rare genetic condition in which pigment is lacking in the skin, hair and eyes.
  
Micah (bottom right) plays with his brothers on his first morning at the Andersons' home in Isle of Wight, Va. Both Elijah and Paul were adopted at age 4. The brothers, who are not biologically related, are often mistaken for triplets.
  
Kim Anderson helps the boys apply sunscreen before picking strawberries at a farm in Surry. The lack of pigment in their skin leaves them vulnerable to the sun.
     
  
Paul cries while playing with his brothers after church. While the boys are very close in age, Elijah is definitely the older brother and often has the upper hand.
  
Kim Anderson comforts Micah during a doctor's visit shortly after bringing him to the United States. When they traveled to China to adopt Micah, they found out he had tuberculosis and he had to undergo multiple tests. "It was tough on him," said Kim, especially because of the initial language barrier.
  
Micah, 9, Elijah, 10, and Paul, 8, put their sunglasses on as they head to a homeschool science class. People with albinism are sensitive to bright light and have low-vision issues.
     
  
Paul strains to read his math work during homeschool. All three boys are low-vision, but Paul's vision is the weakest. Kim is also teaching him Braille.
  
Paul (left) and Micah (right) eat noodles for breakfast shortly after Micah was adopted. While Paul and Elijah still prefer an Asian-influenced diet, they have lost most of their Chinese customs and language since moving to the United States.
  
Kim expresses frustration at Paul while showing Micah how to use a computer during homeschool. Paul was further behind developmentally when he was adopted and Kim and Steve are still trying to catch him up socially.
     
  
The Anderson family attends church at Bacon's Castle Baptist. The boys have their own closed-circuit TV next to the pew so they can follow along with the sermon and hymns.
  
Elijah waits for his mom to finish applying sunscreen during the Andersons' family beach trip to Outer Banks. The boys dislike sunscreen, but have to have it if they spend any significant amount of time outside.
  
Paul, Elijah and Micah build a sandcastle during the Andersons' family beach trip to the Outer Banks in Corolla, N.C. To protect themselves from the sun, the boys have to keep their skin covered.
     
  
Paul looks toward the light after the boys had spent the afternoon decorating their room like a disco.
  
Paul tries to look over Thomas Leiby's shoulder while he plays a video game at a low-vision session at Camp Easter Seals in New Castle, Va.
  
Elijah, Paul and Micah hang onto the cart as the family shops at Wal-Mart.
     
  
Elijah giggles with Kim while playing in the snow last winter. The email adoption group which Kim used to find the boys was called "snow babies." Children with albinism in China have little opportunities and are considered bad luck.
  
Kim works with Paul during home school. The Andersons chose to homeschool the boys in order to provide them with a Christian curriculum and also as a buffer from the taunts of other school children.
  
Kim tends to the boys during bedtime. "We're pushing the envelope," said Kim, who is 53."We can just get old, or we can get old and do something." she said of the decision to adopt. "This is what God laid on our hearts to do with our time."