Faith, Family and Finding a Cure The Moms Magazine interviews Tiffany Leaders photography by J. Selander Photography
Tiffany claims that she’s just like any other mom. I mean, why should her story be told? Why should she be featured in a magazine? What’s so special about her? Everything. Tiffany and husband Paul have five children. “We nearly represent every color of the human skin tones. There are certainly times when we receive looks about our family, or silly questions such as, ‘Which ones of those are your REAL children?’ To which we pleasantly say, ‘All of them!’ But if you are talking about which ones are natural born, compared to heart born...” People are generally curious, and we are thrilled to see the interest in our family as being unique. God has been so good to us, to entrust us with all of these precious people to love and attempt to develop amazing young men and women. Tiffany and Paul felt a strong desire to adopt, all the way back to when they were dating. “Once we were married, we knew that it was still a calling in our hearts. We had planned on pursuing adoption while pregnant with our third, knowing that was the only way that our families would continue. And our third child being born with Cystic Fibrosis only confirmed that choice.” Their third child, Rachel, was born with Cystic fibrosis (CF). CF is a lifethreatening genetic disease
that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system. An estimated 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide) have CF. In people with CF, a defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that: • Clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections • Obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down food and absorb vital nutrients
Nathan, 13; Caleb, 11; Megan, almost 2; Shiloh, 7; and Rachel, 9
In the 1950s, few children with CF lived to attend elementary school. Since then, tremendous progress in understanding and treating CF has led to dramatic improvements in the length and quality of life for those with CF.
How do people get CF? Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease. People inherit CF from their parents through genes, which also determine many other characteristics, including height, hair color and eye color. CF is caused by mutations in a gene that produces a protein, called CFTR. The CFTR protein controls the flow of salt and water in and out of the cells of organs like the lungs and pancreas.
To have cystic fibrosis, a person must inherit two copies of the defective CF gene – one copy from each parent. Both parents must have at least one copy of the defective gene. People with only one copy of the defective CF gene are called carriers, but they do not have the disease themselves. Each time two CF carriers have a child, the chances are: •
25 percent (1 in 4) the child will have CF
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50 percent (1 in 2) the child will be a carrier but will not have CF
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25 percent (1 in 4) the child will not be a carrier and will not have CF