The Sharp Family - 16 kids so far

[fundyfunland]

I haven't seen any posts on this family, even though I searched - The Sharps. They live in the US, have 16 kids, I think 3 are adopted (1 from Ukraine & 2 from China?). 4 special needs kids.

adozenreasonsandmore.blogspot.ca/p/about-us.html

They seem like a really nice family, actually, and I almost hate to put them in a snark forum. They certainly talk about god & ask for prayers, but so far that's the extent of it from what I can see. Their oldest daughter lives away from home now and is in 2nd year in college. The girls wear pants, etc. The parents seem really caring.

The oldest daughter, Lexi, also has her own blog: thesharpcrew.tumblr.com

Does anyone know anything about them?

[bananacat]

Regardless of religious views, I'm not very charitable to people who hoard adopted children with special needs and/or from other countries. I've made it clear on other threads, but really they are adopting these supposedly unadoptable kids so they can get a bunch of back-pats for taking on this burden, no matter how loving and caring they may seem, and the rest of society feeds right into their hero complex by praising them for this. Meanwhile, I just don't believe that any two adults can adequately provide enough time and attention for 16 individual children.

[NurseNell]

Regardless of religious views, I'm not very charitable to people who hoard adopted children with special needs and/or from other countries. I've made it clear on other threads, but really they are adopting these supposedly unadoptable kids so they can get a bunch of back-pats for taking on this burden, no matter how loving and caring they may seem, and the rest of society feeds right into their hero complex by praising them for this. Meanwhile, I just don't believe that any two adults can adequately provide enough time and attention for 16 individual children.

Their first special needs child was born to them. They hadn't considered adoption prior to that. They then adopted a little boy with dwarfism from the Ukraine. They are waiting for 2 children with dwarfism in China. If they continue to adopt I might call them hoarders but I'll give them a pass at this point. I do agree about two adults not having enough time and attention for 16 kids.

ETA: They went to China in April and now have the other 2 children with dwarfism.

Once you have a child with a particular special need and you have a team of doctors and care providers it is much easier to bring another child with the same thing into your family. I have a friend who has adopted 3 children with albinism, 1 from Korea, 2 from China. They have 2 bio kids. They are done adopting. These kids get nothing in the way of services in their home countries, they are hidden away in an orphanage until they die. Here they thrive.

[salex]

Regardless of religious views, I'm not very charitable to people who hoard adopted children with special needs and/or from other countries. I've made it clear on other threads, but really they are adopting these supposedly unadoptable kids so they can get a bunch of back-pats for taking on this burden, no matter how loving and caring they may seem, and the rest of society feeds right into their hero complex by praising them for this. Meanwhile, I just don't believe that any two adults can adequately provide enough time and attention for 16 individual children.

I came to this conclusion when I worked with a guy who, along with his wife, had adopted a variety of special needs children from other countries. He had become a young widower with two small children, one with a disability, and his second wife apparently couldn't have children, so they adopted-- all from other countries, all with disabilities ranging from minor to severe, for a total of probably 8 kids (I don't remember). I thought "oh well, that is nice, I'd never do it but whatever" until I got to know them better. They were "prevatican II" Roman Catholic, skirts only, etc etc etc, but his wife was never so antimated or happy as when she was being featured in a newspaper story about their family. I told my husband it was as if she had a variation of Munchausen by proxy that didn't require her to create the illness, only get the sympathy and praise for martyring herself to her children's ailments.

From what I saw, the kids were well treated, got all kinds of physical therapy, etc, so it is likely that they had a better quality of life than if they had remained in an orphanage or as beggars in whatever their countries of origin. But it explained a lot when I figured out what appeared to be her motivation.

[djibouti]

They seem like a sweet family, but I question some of their naming choices! "Rizlee"? Really?

One of their kids has EB, I know a family with a daughter with that and it's a horrible, horrible disease. :(

[NurseNell]

They seem like a sweet family, but I question some of their naming choices! "Rizlee"? Really?

One of their kids has EB, I know a family with a daughter with that and it's a horrible, horrible disease. :(

The child with EB was born to them. It was after her birth they started considering adoption.

And Mom is pregnant again, due in September. She is only 39. I'm tired just thinking of having that many kids.

[ladyaudley]

Obrion, Menzo and Rizlee????

I agree that it probably helps if they adopt children with the same disability. They'll know the issues, the doctors, the challenges.

Did anyone read the rant about gossiping on the daughter's blog? If it was really someone at the hospital who leaked the news (which is entirely possible), then no matter how snarkworthy you think a family is, it's just low.

[NurseNell]

Did anyone read the rant about gossiping on the daughter's blog? If it was really someone at the hospital who leaked the news (which is entirely possible), then no matter how snarkworthy you think a family is, it's just low.

It's also a HIPAA violation.

[C Potter-Pirbright]

adozenreasonsandmore.blogspot.ca/2012/12/a-long-overdue-explanationfinally.html

At the beginning of October, A date I will NEVER forget. A Man came into our home in the middle of the night and took one of our children out of their beds while they slept. He took our sleeping child down the stairs and proceeded to the door when our child woke up scared and utterly afraid. We think he was scared off after hearing noises from upstairs. He fled from our home leaving our daughter at our door.

Umm yikes! That is nightmare material.

Having said that, even the header picture of all (minus the Chinese born children) overwhelms me. They seem to have a nice life (in terms of home & possessions) and the eldest daughter seems to think they get no assistance what so ever, I wonder how they do it.

[nelliebelle1197]

They move into snark territory considering the names and spellings they chose for those poor younger kids.

[salex]

adozenreasonsandmore.blogspot.ca/2012/12/a-long-overdue-explanationfinally.html

Umm yikes! That is nightmare material.

Having said that, even the header picture of all (minus the Chinese born children) overwhelms me. They seem to have a nice life (in terms of home & possessions) and the eldest daughter seems to think they get no assistance what so ever, I wonder how they do it.

Did she forget to mention their ™

Here is a broken link to one (help us get kids from China) reecesrainbow.org/40761/sponsorsharp-2

and here is from their blog adozenreasonsandmore.blogspot.ca/2013/02/heart-explosion.html

I just know so many people love them as much as we do and cannot wait until they come home!

We will be traveling in the next month or so and still lack lots of funds needed to bring them home.

Here is how you can help......

We are going to show them lots of love by sticking hearts to our livingroom walls!

The kids are beyond excited to help with this project and they will be putting your name on the heart before they stick it on the wall!

Here is how its going to work...

$10 gets you the larger red heart

$5 gets you the medium pink heart

$1 gets you a small white heart

AND

We are also going to make this a little bit sweeter!!

A great friend of mine donated a $100 gift card for Subway.

So, for every dollar you donate, your name will go into a drawing to win this!!

So, every dollar counts!! Its a chance to win Subway!!

$10...gets 10 chances!

$5...gets you 5 chances!

$1 gets you 1 chance!!!

[ILoveJellybeans]

adozenreasonsandmore.blogspot.ca/2012/12/a-long-overdue-explanationfinally.html

Umm yikes! That is nightmare material.

Having said that, even the header picture of all (minus the Chinese born children) overwhelms me. They seem to have a nice life (in terms of home & possessions) and the eldest daughter seems to think they get no assistance what so ever, I wonder how they do it.

That is terrible and every parent's worst nightmare. Im glad he didnt succeed in kidnapping this kid :o

I dont think anyone can successfully look after 16 kids though and give them all the attention they need (not to mention how much money you would need to have to feed them all, I think anyone with 16 kids would need to be a millionaire at the rate my little siblings eat). I know there are many different factors to think of, like special needs any of the kids may have, and the age difference between oldest and youngest and that everyone has different limits to how many kids they can successfully parent, but I think 16 seems like way too much for anyone.

[meep]

I came to this conclusion when I worked with a guy who, along with his wife, had adopted a variety of special needs children from other countries. He had become a young widower with two small children, one with a disability, and his second wife apparently couldn't have children, so they adopted-- all from other countries, all with disabilities ranging from minor to severe, for a total of probably 8 kids (I don't remember). I thought "oh well, that is nice, I'd never do it but whatever" until I got to know them better. They were "prevatican II" Roman Catholic, skirts only, etc etc etc, but his wife was never so antimated or happy as when she was being featured in a newspaper story about their family. I told my husband it was as if she had a variation of Munchausen by proxy that didn't require her to create the illness, only get the sympathy and praise for martyring herself to her children's ailments.

From what I saw, the kids were well treated, got all kinds of physical therapy, etc, so it is likely that they had a better quality of life than if they had remained in an orphanage or as beggars in whatever their countries of origin. But it explained a lot when I figured out what appeared to be her motivation.

I think that is the best explanation I've heard of these types of people. I so agree with you. And I've known someone who had Munchhausen by proxy (I felt so sad for her kids), every few days she'd take her kids to a new doctor describing different symptoms her kids had (that I knew for a fact they didn't have since I spent so much time around them). I think she got a high from all the attention she got. (I was a kid at the time so I didn't know what this was or how bad it was, otherwise I would have told someone.) It's pretty much the same thing with these fundie adoptions, except they don't have to fake illnesses...they just adopt a child with real illnesses and are showered with the attention they so desire by "saving" these kids and being a hero. It's equally as sickening. They're just using their own adopted kids.

[fundyfunland]

I'm still going to give them a pass for the time being on the whole adoption thing. I think the kids are better off with a family who it seems (currently) can provide a loving home and the medical attention they need. They'd be stuck in orphanages in China & the Ukraine otherwise, with bleak futures. I realize the motives of the parents are questionable - they may very well be doing it to garner attention or feed their saviour complex - but I'm more interested in the end result for the kids.

Re: the Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy as an explanation, MSbP actually involves the parent fabricating symptoms that are non-existent, or worse, making the child ill to have those symptoms. The Sharp kids in question have been diagnosed already dwarfism (something pretty hard to fabricate) and EB, a genetic disorder also difficult to fake.

I hope I'm right and that these kids are all part of a loving and caring family where they can thrive.

[lizziesmom]

I just read some of the eldest daughter's blog and guess, what, Mama is preggers again! So, with the fourteen they already had, the two new adoptees from China, it looks like they have 8 children under age six, soon to be 9. Insanity.

[fundyfunland]

I just read some of the eldest daughter's blog and guess, what, Mama is preggers again! So, with the fourteen they already had, the two new adoptees from China, it looks like they have 8 children under age six, soon to be 9. Insanity.

Insanity indeed!!! At least the oldest girl who's in college is allowed to move away from home, so she won't be responsible for raising her parents' new baby.

[Chicken bones]

The amount of children they have seems pretty crazy, but I have to agree with some of these posters, they seem pretty nice as a family. Kids are allowed in sports, cheerleading, activities, etc and the parents seemed to have made a nice effort to make the new adoptees welcome. Her entries about her stress levels during the China trip are totally relatable. I don't even have much of a problem with the fundraising for the adoption fees; I think these kids will have a better life outside the orphanages and honestly, adoption fees and expenses are crazy high. If they are able to financially care for them on a day to day basis, fundraising to get the kids "home" is reasonable to me, especially for kids with special needs or are considered "less" adoptable by many.

[salex]

I'm still going to give them a pass for the time being on the whole adoption thing. I think the kids are better off with a family who it seems (currently) can provide a loving home and the medical attention they need. They'd be stuck in orphanages in China & the Ukraine otherwise, with bleak futures. I realize the motives of the parents are questionable - they may very well be doing it to garner attention or feed their saviour complex - but I'm more interested in the end result for the kids.

Re: the Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy as an explanation, MSbP actually involves the parent fabricating symptoms that are non-existent, or worse, making the child ill to have those syptoms. The Sharp kids in question have been diagnosed already dwarfism (something pretty hard to fabricate) and EB, a genetic disorder also difficult to fake.

I hope I'm right and that these kids are all part of a loving and caring family where they can thrive.

That is why I said it was "like" it-- many of the same results of attention, martyrdom, admiration,etc without actually poisoning a child. And I was speaking about a woman I knew, who just glowed when people commented on how hard she worked and suffered for her poor, disabled kids.

[fundyfunland]

That is why I said it was "like" it-- many of the same results of attention, martyrdom, admiration,etc without actually poisoning a child. And I was speaking about a woman I knew, who just glowed when people commented on how hard she worked and suffered for her poor, disabled kids.

My bad. I have the shortest attention span ever.

[Emme]

I met them (maybe for 5 minutes) at an adoption event. They seem like decent people.