A couple from Georgia adopted 88 children with special needs

Mike and Camilla Geraldi with some of their children.
Photo: Possible Dream Foundation

Mike and Camilla Geraldi from Georgia 40 years ago decided to adopt children with special needs.

For four decades, the couple became parents for 88 such babies, whom they took from shelters and special institutions in infancy, writes CNN.

“The children I adopted were supposed to die. But many of them survived,” said 68-year-old Geraldi.

Their family includes children with intellectual disabilities, spinal problems and Down syndrome. Some of them suffer from autism or extreme deformation of the face.

The story began in Florida even before nurse Camilla Geraldi met her husband Mike, a pediatrician, at a Miami hospital. Before that, she alone had already taken on the education of three children with special needs.

"When Mike asked me to marry him, I told him I wanted to create a home for disabled children, and he said, 'I want to follow your dream,'" the woman said.

Following their dream was not easy for the couple - they had to cope with the deaths of 32 adopted children.

Camilla is trying to make children as independent as possible in their situation; each of them has her own business and tasks. All this is part of creating for them a normal home environment and living conditions.

The oldest of the adopted children, Darlene, is now 32. She lives in Florida.

The youngest, Isabella, 8 years. The girl was born blind and deaf from a mother with cocaine addiction. Today she is one year ahead of the requirements of the school curriculum for her age.

The couple also have two biological daughters.

One of them, Jacqueline, was born prematurely. Doctors said she had severe brain damage. Today Jacqueline is 40 years old, a nurse practitioner and mother.

Another girl was born without any abnormalities.

The complexity of the life of the couple also added nature.

In 1992, the family then living in Florida was hit hard by the hurricane. The children were fine, but the house was completely uninhabitable, and the family decided to move to North Carolina.

In 2011, while the family was on vacation, lightning struck their estate. The fire destroyed everything: the house, vehicles - and the feeling of safety. After this, the family moved to Ellijay, Georgia.

At the beginning of 2016, Mike died of cancer. Now Camilla is alone with her family, receiving money from the foundation. Possible Dream Foundation.

Recently, one of her friends gave her a ticket to the 7-day cruise, a woman admitted that she just slept all week long vacation. According to her, she had no idea how tired she was.

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