Holt adoptive mom Anne Silas* has adopted two children from China who, because of the stigma surrounding HIV, waited for a family for seven years. Here, Anne shares the realities of raising children with HIV — and how the biggest parenting challenge she faces has nothing to do with the undetectable virus in their blood.

* The author has chosen to write under a pseudonym to protect the identities of her children.

They come running to me after a long school day, the two of them, bright and beautiful in their rubber rain boots and their colorful jackets. They’re almost twins, at 10 and 11 years old, and their faces light up as they catch sight of me. When the weight of their dual hug hits me it knocks me backwards and I laugh as I grab them tight. “Wo ai ni!”  I greet them in their native Chinese.  I love you.  It’s our constant refrain since we met them, not that long ago.

These, my precious third and fourth children, came to us through adoption from China.  Their special need, as I tell those who ask, is that they have been left waiting far too long.  And now they are the older children nobody chooses to adopt.

But there’s actually more to their story.