Jon and Liz Grabowski are part of a family of nine featured in the TLC special 'Born with Albinism,' but who are they and what led to the multiple adoptions?
TLC is known for shining a spotlight on families with interesting dynamics that you might not have known about otherwise. And when Jon Grabowski and his wife, Liz Grabowski, were approached to be the subjects of Born With Albinism, they welcomed the world into their lives to learn about their adoption story and four of their children, who were born with albinism.
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The TV special is meant to explain what the big family's life is like, as Jon and Liz have five adopted children and two older biological children. If viewers end up having a vested interest in Jon, Liz, and their kids, maybe the special will expand into a whole TV show. Before they grace your screens, though, you might want to get to know them all a little better.
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Who are Liz and Jon Grabowski and their family?
Like most of the other families who make their way to TLC, Liz and Jon's backgrounds are pretty average. Neither of them is famous and they haven't made a living by showcasing their family to the world on a famous blog just yet. Instead, they met in college like so many other couples and started expanding their family soon after they were married.
The family of nine is from California and, according to a story Liz wrote for Love What Matters, she and Jon decided on adoption well after their first two sons were born. At one point, they created a YouTube channel to share videos of their kids, but it seems to have fallen off and never gained any traction.
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First Jon and Liz adopted Lily, who Liz wrote fit into their family "like a glove on a hand." She was a little girl with albinism from China and, just months after Jon and Liz returned home to the United States with her, they set about adopting again. This time, it was Mae, a young girl who doesn't have albinism but does live with brachial plexus nerve damage to her right arm.
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Next came Nathaniel, a boy living with albinism, and after him, Liz and Jon adopted 5-year-old Kaelyn, who has albinism and had a difficult life up until that point involving neglect that resulted in delayed physical and mental development.
The last child they adopted is Emily, another little girl with albinism and just like that, Jon and Liz became a family of nine.
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Jon and Liz Grabowski have two biological children too.
Before Jon and Liz made the decision to adopt, they had two biological sons. Now, both sons are adults, but at the time of the family's first adoption, they were still kids, and the family gradually became bigger and bigger over the years.
Liz wrote that they had been happy as a family of four but felt God had pulled them in the direction of adoption.
Liz also shared in a 2012 newsletter for the Chrysalis House adoption agency that she has been "exhausted and overwhelmed" at times. Being a mom to so many and learning to help her children with different physical and emotional needs has its challenges.
Somehow, though, Jon and Liz have managed to make it work time and again and now, TLC has welcomed them to share their story on TV.
Born With Albinism premieres on TLC on May 18, 2021, at 10 p.m. EST.
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