It’s official: A young boy with special needs is now part of the family

At the Walker house, everything from dinner to home schooling in front of the chalkboard has to be choreographed.

The family includes seven kids, six of whom are living in the house and range from 24 years old to an infant, two indoor dogs, two outdoor dogs plus puppies, a donkey and a horse. Tuesday night, they worked together to keep the delicate balance in order and everybody fed.

Not 12 hours later Jim and Shannon Walker sat in front of a judge in an Horry County courtroom. On Jim’s lap sat 2-year-old Nathan.

Behind them, a dozen of their family and friends filled up three pews, along with two kids they are fostering.

“I do find it appropriate and in the child’s best interest to grant the adoption of him by James Kevin Walker and Shannon Norman Walker,” Horry County Family Court Judge Jan B. Bromell Holmes said.

With smiles on their faces, four of their biological kids, two foster kids, family friends and Department of Social Services workers stood up, preparing for pictures and to celebrate the new addition to the family on South Carolina Adoption Day, just five days before Christmas.

In Horry County, 12 kids were adopted to eight families. Across the state 48 kids found new homes, according to Chrysti Shain, public information officer for DSS.

Jim Walker, assistant fire chief for Horry County Fire Rescue and Shannon Walker, a stay-at-home mom and former nurse, had just adopted Nathan Walker, the toddler who had been living with them since September, making him the sixth child in the now ten person family.

“There is no doubt in our mind that this is what God had planned for us from the beginning,” Shannon Walker said. “The timing, the fit, it’s just the way its been. There’s so many things that have fallen into place and so many people that were put in our path before we even knew that we needed them.”

Starting the adoption process nearly a year ago, the family worked on getting their license that allows them to adopt and foster kids. Shortly before they got the license, they received a call from the DSS asking if they were interested in Nathan, a special needs child who has been in foster care since birth.

After meeting with him in Florence for the first time, they were instantly in love.

After a few other short meetings and some weekend sleepovers, the family decided to foster Nathan, who was not yet legally available for adoption. Expecting to wait a year to have the opportunity to adopt him, the Walker’s said they were surprised to realize he was available for adoption a few short weeks before the final court date.

“It seems like it’s only been a few weeks ago I got a text message saying, ‘he’s legally free for adoption,’ ” Shannon Walker said. “It just kind of bam, bam, bam all fell into place so quickly. Just way quicker than we could have ever imagined and we were just so excited.”

Now, the family attends physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy with Nathan twice a week.

Nathan has a genetic disorder known as Coffin-Lowry Syndrome, which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes as a condition that affects different parts of the body.

“The genetic tests have been inconclusive but he has several of the clinical markers for it, which include the smallness in his size, the smallness of his head, the developmental delays,” Shannon Walker said. “So he’ll struggle. He’s made leaps and bounds because he’s had physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, so he’s really come a long way.”

He also has scoliosis that leaves him wearing a back brace until he is done growing.

“It really it wasn’t a factor to us,” Shannon Walker said. “I know that sounds overly simple but we knew that we had to ability to understand what his needs were and the willingness to go after making sure he got the best treatments. So it was just like ‘why not?’ ”

And, of course, Shannon and Jim Walker always wanted a big family.

“There’s so many other kids out there that still need homes, whether it be just foster kids or whether it be adopting kids,” Shannon Walker said. “What we’d like, if anybody gets anything out of our story, that there’s kids out there in need. You don’t have to be perfect.

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "It’s official: A young boy with special needs is now part of the family."