In this segment of our Sense of Community series "Becoming American," we hear the story of three-year-old Rainer Swift. Rainer was an orphan in China before being adopted by his mother, Keely Swift, who owns a coffeeshop in West Plains, Missouri. As part of his adoption process, Rainer was granted U.S. citizenship upon his arrival in the United States.
“I don’t actually know anything about his birth family, but Rainer has a very complicated heart,” Keely Swift said.
Rainer was born with parts of his heart missing, she said, leading to a severe lack of oxygen flowing to his body. This heart defect led to his appearance taking on a "blue" color, Swift said.
"He was one month [old] whenever he was left by a river in a public place, which is usually a sign that his family probably couldn’t provide the medical care," Swift said.
This indicated his birth family may have believed they were doing what was best for the child, hoping he would end up in an orphanage or adopted.
“I had wanted to adopt from China for a really long time, but I’m a single mom," Swift said. Initially, several regulations made it difficult for single parents to adopt. But she was patient, and says her faith led her to keep hope in the possibility that the regulations might change one day. When they did, Swift said she was ready.
"It’s just like a 'knowing' that I knew, something I was supposed to be doing," Swift said. "I just knew it was right.”
Rainer's day in the orphanage was simple, she said.
“He was two but he was still having formula. They were waking him up, like, two times a night to give him a bottle, at two, because, probably to give him calories,” Swift said.
When the time came to meet Rainer, Keely Swift and her brother flew to Beijing. Other families were on similar journeys to meet their young children.
“Everyone goes to Beijing first, and then you go to the province that your child’s in, and then everyone ends up in Guangzhou, which is where the embassy is. And so, that’s where it all gets finalized,” Swift said.
“All the families are just waiting, and, one by one, kids come in with their adoption agency, and, we’re just all meeting our kids right there at once...which is really amazing, and heartbreaking, because the kids don’t know what they’re getting into," Swift said.
When she first saw him, his discoloration struck her. He appeared "totally blue," including his lips and skin.
“We had a connection who knew a heart surgeon. And so, when we flew, he’s like, ‘I’ll move whatever surgery, just get him here,'" Swift said.
Rainer has had two successful surgeries on his heart, and now, he is thriving.
“When I think about what life would have been for Rainer had he not come to the United States, I know that for one, that he probably wouldn’t be alive," Keely Swift said.
“Here, health care will always be provided. He’s a smart, smart little boy. Every doctor, they’re like, ‘Wow.’ And so he picked up language really, really quickly, and, I mean, he’ll for sure get to go to school,” Swift said.
Swift says she has a large, extended family in the Ozarks that has embraced Rainer with their love.
And his U.S. citizenship was granted when Rainer arrived on U.S. soil, since he was adopted from a country that is signature to the Hague Convention.
Keely Swift said an official at the airport congratuated her young son on his new citizenship when they first arrived.
“You have this huge packet that you give to the customs, then you get his Social Security card, and you have to apply for a birth certificate. But, yep, as soon as his feet touched the soil he became a citizen,” Swift said.