"The Children of Strangers"

"Around this time, articles began to appear about the family in newspapers, and they began to win prizes; with this attention came criticism. Some people thought they were saints; but others thought they were publicity-seekers, or weirdos, or had some kind of psychological disorder. Some thought they were addicted to acquiring kids to fill some need, the way others were addicted to shopping. Some thought that they were presumptuous, to imagine that they could be good parents to so many. Even the people who thought they were saints couldn’t understand why they did it. Sue tried to explain.

SUE: Suppose someone trains for years so they can climb Mt. Everest. You watch a documentary about their life, and you learn that they had to give up many things, they didn’t even go to their own mother’s funeral, and you think, What is wrong with that person? Why would they make those sacrifices and not live a normal life in order to pursue this goal that seems so ridiculous? I can relate to that feeling. But then think, Why can’t I just accept that person? They’re driven to do that; that’s their calling; that’s important to them, just like what I do is important to me.

Hector’s mother had been against his having a large family—she wanted him to have a better life than she’d had. But she loved the children, and she would babysit, no matter how many kids there were. Hector’s brothers and sisters were another matter. Most of them believed in blood, Hector thought; a collection of black and Hispanic and Asian children did not seem like a Badeau family to them. They couldn’t understand why Hector would go out of his way to find children with mental and physical flaws. They didn’t spend much time with Hector’s family. Sue felt that her mother was bewildered and intimidated by all her children; she couldn’t understand why Sue had chosen a life like that. Her mother said: You cannot save the whole world. Is that what you think you’re doing?"

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/03/the-children-of-strangers

This is an interesting story. Just interesting human moments.