The Symasek family’s makeup is a blending of cultures, backgrounds, and life circumstances that is only possible by radical obedience to the Lord along with His constant provision of grace. And with ten kids, there is no shortage of need for daily grace.
The ten Symaskek children came together biologically and through international and domestic adoption. Of their six children from adoption, three have spina bifida, with symptoms that range in severity. Two children have a blood disorder that requires blood transfusions every three weeks. Regular hospital visits and medical challenges builds endurance, but Nikki said their day-to-day life is “so much fun.” The challenges that arise for all six children from adoption are often unexpected. However, “these kids learn to navigate their challenges really, really well,” explained Nikki.
Nikki and her husband, Mike, both had individual experiences that eventually led them to growing their family through international adoption. Nikki’s grandparents were missionaries in Asia, and Mike felt his own individual draw to the area. They had four biological kids before they felt called to adopt their fifth daughter from China in 2009.
Nikki and Mike continued to pray about the Lord’s plan for their family. They realized the immense need to provide medical, emotional, and spiritual care for children who had medical special needs. Nikki said, “We were led to two little boys in China who had spina bifida, and the Lord navigated us through some really, really hard diagnoses that we did not see coming.”
When the Symaseks originally decided to pursue medical special needs adoption, they admitted, “Ignorance was bliss.” Nikki possessed a “naive, blind faith, which I think we all need to have at certain points to say yes to those big things.” As the family grew from four kids to nine kids, every day became “a day-by-day processing of what we were dealing with medically.” From emergency surgeries to unexpected complications, Nikki and Mike learned to become comfortable with the lack of control they faced as a family.
When they adopted their youngest child, who was born domestically during COVID-19, the Symaseks faced even more challenges together. Gael, who is two, also has spina bifida like two of his older siblings. His condition, however, is more complex. Nikki observed of their experience during the time since Gael became the twelfth member of the Symasek family, “The Lord grows you through all of it. He just reminds you, ‘This is going to be new, and this is going to be hard, but I’ve gotten you through all of it.’”
The Symasek family constantly leans on each other in times of both laughter and difficulty. “The challenges that we navigate together, truly as a family, we never navigate them alone. They always impact the entire family,” told Nikki. It’s a striking image of giving and receiving–grace to daily give and grace to daily receive.
To families who might be considering special needs adoption, Nikki revealed, “If you’re considering it, then the Lord has laid it on your heart.” She said she has been praying for more people to answer the call to domestic special needs adoption, especially because of the increased need after the overturn of Roe V. Wade. “You’re not going to regret saying yes. What would we regret if we said no?”