Gary and Christie Foulks started the adoption process in April of 2023 they instantly fell in love with their daughter Nora and almost two years later found themselves on a plane to Kyrgyzstan Asia, to bring their daughter to her new home in Greene County.
She is very independent, she is very bubbly, she is very vocal about what she wants, said Nora's mom Christie Foulks.
The Foulks arrived at Kyrgyzstan on January 15th and what was supposed to be one of the best moments of their life, quickly turned into a series of unexpected setbacks.
Facing several legal battles the main one--not being able to get Nora's visa.
I would email them every day and say hey are there updates you know we really need to get home. Nora has a heart surgery that we need to get done. You know this is urgent, said Christie.
Nora has Down Syndrome and suffers from a heart condition that needs immediate surgery.
She was on a waitlist since birth and was never able to get it.
She’s 4 years old and she wears a 3 1/2 to 4 shoe size in youth and 18 to 24 months in kids clothes, said Christie. When they were prolonging things the doctor said if we wait much longer she’s gonna be dead.
The Foulks family grew impatient and decided to take matters into their own hands.
I put a post on Facebook just asking for help. Help us. Who do we reach out to? What do we do, said Christie.
Within just a few hours Representative Diana Harshbarger and Senator Bill Hagerty reached out and offered to help get Nora's visa.
They both kind of just tag-teamed it and got it done, got the results that we needed so I’ll give them a huge shout-out, said Christie.
Now, after nearly 3 months in Kyrgyzstan the Foulks family plan to come home on Saturday.
Our hope for the future is for Nora to get healthy and for her to thrive and live her best life, said Christie.
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