{"id":32214,"date":"2024-09-04T16:29:20","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T16:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=32214"},"modified":"2024-09-04T16:29:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T16:29:58","slug":"the-heart-warming-adoption-story-of-jessica-long-a-paralympic-swimmer-who-advocates-for-adoption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/the-heart-warming-adoption-story-of-jessica-long-a-paralympic-swimmer-who-advocates-for-adoption\/","title":{"rendered":"The heart-warming adoption story of Jessica Long, a Paralympic swimmer who advocates for adoption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Grace Porto,originally published September 3, 2024, Catholic Vote<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CV NEWS FEED \/\/ Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long, one of the most decorated female athletes in American history, is competing for a fifth time this fall. Adopted from Russia, Long is a pro-adoption advocate who has spoken movingly against abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her athletic career, Long has earned 29 medals, including 16 gold, in swimming. As her website<\/a> explains, despite congenital defects that required her to have a double amputation when she was just 18 months old, \u201cher adopted family would not let her physical differences limit her potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the athlete uses her platform to promote adoption, according to her website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2014 article, Celebrate Life <\/em>magazine explained<\/a> how Jessica\u2019s birth mother, Natalia Valtysheva, was 17 years old when she was pregnant with Jessica. At the time, Valtysheva was living far from her parents, and doctors said she would not be able to take care of the baby. So the teen mother brought Jessica to a nearby orphanage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my heart, I did want to take her home,\u201d she said. She and Jessica\u2019s father, Oleg Valtyshev, married soon after, hoping they could bring Jessica back home in a few years, according to Celebrate Life. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica\u2019s adoptive parents, Steve and Beth Long, had two children and wanted to have more, but were struggling with fertility, according to Celebrate Life. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

After praying and discerning, they adopted Jessica when she was 13 months old, along with Joshua, a 3-year-old boy with a cleft palate, who was also from Russia. The Longs were from Baltimore, Maryland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve said that he and Beth had been concerned about Jessica\u2019s medical needs, thinking it would be difficult for her to be mobile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVery quickly\u2014it didn\u2019t take but a year or two\u2014we were wondering why we were so concerned, because she can do everything everybody else did and, to some extent, a lot better,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Jessica\u2019s adoption, Steve and Beth had two more biological children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery baby is a blessing and precious and special,\u201d Steve said. He added that he advises people who don\u2019t feel ready to be parents to \u201cchoose life as opposed to the alternative, because there are a lot of people who can raise their children and love their children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long met her birth parents<\/a> 20 years after her adoption in a moment caught on camera by NBC, according to Celebrate Life<\/em>. Afterward, Long reflected that she didn\u2019t know what it was like to be in her mother\u2019s situation. \u201cI hope that for some people, it helped them to forgive and to learn from it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long also expressed gratitude for adoption. \u201cIf my mom had not given me up,\u201d she said, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be where I am now. I wouldn\u2019t be here. And so, I really hope that people see my story and realize that adoption can be a wonderful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace Porto is a journalist and author at CatholicVote.org<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JessicaLongOfficial<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Grace Porto,originally published September 3, 2024, Catholic Vote CV NEWS FEED \/\/ Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long, one of the most decorated female athletes in American history, is competing for a fifth time this fall. Adopted from Russia, Long is a pro-adoption advocate who has spoken movingly against abortion. 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