As a 16-year-old, Jennifer Poss Taylor began praying for Ashley. At the time, she just didn’t know how much her little girl would need someone like her.
Taylor learned at that young age that she would never have children naturally because of a health condition that sent her into premature menopause. However, she never gave up her dream of having children. “I always wanted as many children as I could afford to feed,” says the mother of three. “Even at that young age, I knew God would provide either through medical intervention or through adoption.”
Today, Taylor and her husband, David, are the parents of three incredibly fortunate children, two of whom have special needs. Ashley, a blue-eyed blonde like her mom, was born with fetal alcohol syndrome, and her younger brother, Grant, has autism.
Ashley was the first answer to Taylor’s prayer for children, and she was the one who inspired “Forfeiting All Sanity, A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome” (Tate Publishing, $10.99). Taylor poured out her heart in this 130-page book, openly and honestly describing the challenges, joys and frustrations of seeking adoption and then a diagnosis for Ashley.
