I ran across a very encouraging article about a young man, Justin Klien-Edgerton of Oroville, California who was recently honored for some amazing accomplishments. Justin has been nominated to be a European ambassador for the People to People program. The program promotes world peace through people working and talking directly together.

This nothing short of a miracle for a baby who was born with serious medical issues and placed for adoption at six weeks of age. Justin was exposed to a virus before birth called
cytomegalovirus and it was believed that he would be born blind, deaf, mentally retarded and never able to be anything more than in a vegetative state. Today he is far from what they expected, an A-B student who is active in sports and the community.

Justin credits the hard work and encouragement of his adoptive mother for his progress. The hours of therapy, speech development, many surgeries as well as her attention to his work in school have certainly paid off. His adoptive mom also credits his good genetics and an intelligent birth family. Justin is in an open adoption and has regular visits with his birthparents who live in San Diego. His father has a Ph.D. in psychology, and his mother is a medical doctor.

It seems that Justin’s adoptive mom, a retired special education teacher, had what this young man needed to achieve the best in his life. I also liked hearing that he has regular visits with his birthfamily who have gone on to be successful and no doubt have had more than just a positive genetic influence over him. The only disappointment to this article for me was I would have liked to hear even more about Justin and his relationship with his birthfamily. He sounds like an amazing young man!


Photo Credit- David C. Neilsen II/ Mercury Register