Smyrna couple adopts special-needs kids

SMYRNA - When Heidi Peaster was 15 years old, she and her husband-to-be, Roger, knew what they wanted: a big family, but not a typical one. <br> <br> After getting married, they had three daughters of their own, and then fulfilled their dream by adopting six other kids, five with serious disabilities. <br> <br> ``I met my husband when I was 15 and he was 16, and that very first summer we sat around and talked about how we wanted to have a big family with kids of all different races and some with disabilities,&#39;&#39; Peaster, now 50, told the Marietta Daily Journal. <br> <br> ``I think that&#39;s why God put us together,&#39;&#39; she said. <br> <br> After being foster parents for several years, the Peasters got a 6-month-old child named Timmy who had 13 birth defects in his heart and was quadriplegic. <br> <br> ``He became free for adoption. We knew he had serious health problems, but we were hooked. His parents, too, really wanted us to adopt him,&#39;&#39; Peaster said. <br> <br> Timmy is now 15, and the Peasters have five other adopted children: Jessica, 12, who has a chromosome abnormality and can&#39;t walk; Dakota, 11, who has minimal autism and attends classes on a regular basis; De&#39;Ariusm, 4, who has cerebral palsy; Brighton, 5, born HIV positive; and McKenna, an infant ``who is totally normal and healthy,&#39;&#39; Peaster said. <br> <br> The family makes it a point not to shut out the birth parents. <br> <br> ``To me, it doesn&#39;t matter who gave birth to these children because the fun part is getting to raise them,&#39;&#39; Peaster said. <br> <br> ``I figure, the more people that love these children, the better. We don&#39;t think of the birth family as bad people. They&#39;re just folks, but some of them have problems. They can be great friends and can turn into an advocate for your child,&#39;&#39; she said. <br> <br> Over the years, dozens of children have spent time at the Peaster home. <br> <br> ``We just kept on fostering, and every once in a while one would become free for adoption,&#39;&#39; she said. ``If it was a child we thought we were meant to have, we did.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The Peasters&#39; daughters Brynn, Katie and Missi are all in their 20s now. Two are married. All three help out looking after the six children.