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AUBURN — “We wouldn’t trade places with anybody for anything,” said Patrick Gentis, as one of his daughters played on an outdoor swing set, a second sat knitting and a third nibbled on a cookie.
“All we have ever done is be available, and look at this.”
Gentis and his wife, Dianne, of Auburn are the parents of 11 children. They hope to swell the ranks to 12 in the not-too-distant future.
The Gentises’ first six children — Dustin, 29, Damon, 27, Devin, 25, Deanna, 21, Donovan, 19, and Daniel, 16, are their biological offspring. The remaining five became members of the Gentis family through international adoption.
“In 1996 we had a little boy stillborn to us,” said Dianne Gentis. “At that time we decided we still wanted to parent another child.”
The Gentises turned to Hand In Hand International adoptions, which has an office in Albion, to help them on their journey.
“We found that the world was full of kids that needed families,” Patrick Gentis said.
In 1998, the Gentises traveled to the Philippines where they adopted then-19-month-old Dawn.
“They said she might not sit, stand or walk,” said Dianne Gentis. “My husband and I both had prayed and felt real good about it. Now she’s our soccer player.”
Dawn also runs cross-country, plays basketball and enjoys playing the clarinet.
“All the other kids were real supportive,” Patrick Gentis recalled of his family’s openness to adoption. “There’s never been a question. She belongs right here. That in itself has helped us make a decision about bringing other kids here, knowing the reception they’ll get from brothers and sisters.”
Dianne Gentis noted that the adoption of one child somehow was connected to the adoption of another.
While adopting Dawn from an orphanage in the Philippines, the Gentises noticed there were a number of boys, aged about 4, 5 or 6, who appeared to be perfectly healthy.
“I was told they were unadoptable because they were too old,” Dianne Gentis said. “That just stabbed us in the heart.”
After returning to the United States with Dawn, the dust had barely settled before the Gentises decided they could adopt again. Working through Hand In Hand, they welcomed David as a member of the family in May, 2000. Now almost 15, David plays basketball and is a member of the DeKalb High School marching band.
“We sat home for a while. We never knew we were going to do this again. We never meant for this to happen,” Dianne Gentis said with a smile. “We just believe the Lord called us to open ourselves.”
The Gentis family grew again in 2005 with the addition of Zara, now 12. Jamie, now age 6, from China, followed in 2007. Lena, 11, is the “new kid on the block,” joining the Gentis family from the Philippines in 2008.
Now the Gentises are ready to do it all over again and are waiting to adopt a little boy from China.
Dianne Gentis noted that all of their adopted children were considered special-needs children by the orphanages from which they came. She said special needs can range from medical neglect and dental problems to abandonment and the age of a child.
“Those places are stuffed with older children,” Patrick Gentis said. “The real thing is God just laid it on our heart to bring those kids home. … We are blessed beyond anything we could ever have imagined. It’s a real deep satisfaction. We never set out to have going-on-12 kids … but what a cool trip this has been.”
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