Today is a special day. Not only is it Thanksgiving Day, but since this is National Adoption Month, I’ve also invited my friend, author and speaker Sue Badeau, to visit with us and share a little of her story of parenting 22 kids…and living to write about it! Her new book, Are We There Yet: The Ultimate Road Trip Adopting and Raising 22 Kids, was just released in August this year and I couldn’t wait to share her story with you! I’ve read the book and even though I’ve known Sue for several years, I had no idea how much they had sacrificed for their sweet family.
You can read Sue’s bio below, but just to give you a little info, she’s a nationally-known speaker, writer, and consultant with a heart for children and a desire to help adults and children build bridges of hope following the pain of trauma or loss. This book demonstrates the results of her heart.
Don’t forget to leave a comment for Sue and you’ll automatically be in the drawing for a free copy of her book, Are We There Yet: The Ultimate Road Trip Adopting and Raising 22 Kids. Be sure to come back next week to see if you’re the winner! Now let’s get started!
November is National Adoption month – tell me a little bit about why that is so meaningful to you and your family?
I always had it in my heart to adopt. Incredibly, my high school sweetheart, who then became my husband, shared the same dream, and we imagined we would “have 2 (biologically) and adopt 2.” Funny – God had other plans for us and we ended up having 2 and adopting 20!
We believe that every child needs and deserves a family forever. Children don’t need to grow up in the temporary-ness of foster care. Foster care is important and God does call some to this valuable work, but it is truly meant to be temporary, not a place for a child to spend their whole childhood. As I like to say, “Children need not only need a family to grow UP in, but a family to grow OLD in.” God speaks (in Romans 8 and elsewhere -) about adopting US as his children!
So National Adoption month provides a great way to spread this message far and wide and I am thankful for the opportunity to share with your readers as well!
Is this why you wrote your book, Are We There Yet? The Ultimate Road Trip Adopting and Raising 22 Kids? Who is the audience for the book?
Yes, we know that not everyone is called to adopt 20 kids! But we know everyone can do something to make a difference. So we wrote the book to educate people about adoption (and maybe inspire a few to adopt), to encourage those going through the trenches of parenting challenges as we have and to equip the church and others to come alongside adoptive parents, or parents of kids with special needs and be their circle of support. So the audience is really everyone who cares about children – and also anyone who likes a good story – we think our stories will make readers both laugh and cry along the way.
With 22 kids to care for, how did you ever find time to write the book and can you share a little about the writing process?
We’d been thinking about writing our story for years but we never found the time in the midst of raising the kids, and working. After our son Wayne died in 2012 (Wayne is one of 3 children with terminal illnesses that we adopted) God just really impressed upon us that the time had come to write our story down – as a legacy for the next generation, just as Psalm 71: 17-18 instructs.
Sue & Hector Badeau and Family as they receive an award from former President Bill Clinton
Well, it’s a BIG story and it took awhile to get words on paper. In the fall of 2012 we created our outline, and then immediately after the holidays we started writing. I tell people it was like we went into a cave and wrote for 6 weeks. Not sure we ate, slept or showered that whole time! We wrote thousands of words per day. Each day Hector and I talked about and shared our progress, reviewed our outline and assignments and wrote. Most of the book is in my voice, but it combines both of our memories and stories. There are a few chapters told exclusively in his voice – we really wanted that “father’s heart” to shine through. After a few months of editing – we got the book in hand late this summer. What a special moment that was!
Well, since it is Thanksgiving week one funny story takes place when we were getting ready for Thanksgiving soon after moving to Philadelphia. We call it the “cracker incident” when I woke everyone in the house up for a family meeting in the middle of the night to discuss “The Case of the Missing Crackers” and I think readers will enjoy the way it is told in Chapter 16!
So you share your story through your book and also by speaking both at public agencies and for churches and parent groups. How can my readers reach you and learn more about your ministry?
They can visit my website at or email me at – I’d love to hear from them!
Vonda here: Thank you for joining us today, Sue. I know our friends have enjoyed it as much as I have. And readers, don’t forget to leave a comment and you’ll be in the drawing for a free book! Then check back next week to see if you’re the winner.
BIO: Sue Badeau is a nationally known speaker, writer and consultant with a heart for children and a desire to help adults and children build bridges of hope following the pain of trauma or loss. She has worked for many years in child services and serves on several national boards. Sue writes and speaks extensively to public agencies, courts, parent groups and churches. Sue and her husband, Hector, are lifetime parents of twenty-two children, two by birth and twenty adopted (three, with terminal illnesses, are now deceased). They have also served as foster parents for more than 50 children. They have authored a book about their family’s parenting journey, Are We There Yet: The Ultimate Road Trip Adopting and Raising 22 Kids, which can be found on Amazon.com or on Sue’s website – – Sue may be reached by email at . She lives in Philadelphia and is a member of the Summit Presbyterian Church.
