Have you ever been talking to a toddler about something only to realize that they’re looking at you as if you were speaking a foreign language? In a world where communicating with adults is hard enough, imagine trying to make something clear in English to a child who only understands Russian! Scott and Tracy Trexler had to live through that unsettling experience when they brought Alex, the first of their two adopted children, home from Russia in January 2002.
"That first month was hard communicating with him," Scott said smiling, "but whenever anyone spoke Russian to him you could just see his face light up."
Tracy said the idea of adopting children had always appealed to her even before she and Scott met in a Scuba diving class at what was then Memphis State University. Ironically, they didn’t even like each other when they met, but following their Scuba certification trip to Florida they began to take an interest in each other. They were finally married in December 1995.
Within the first year of their marriage, Tracy suffered a miscarriage. Afterwards she started wondering if her interest in adoption was something that God had put in her heart for His own special reason.
"After the miscarriage I never was able to get pregnant," she said, "so we began to seriously consider adopting a child."
Scott and Tracy proceeded to have an international home study conducted and then they chose an adoption agency located in St. Louis to help guide them through the process of adopting a child from another country. As they were working to complete all of the necessary paperwork, Scott’s father passed away.
"Before he died," Scott said, "my Dad told us, ’Don’t worry about having a child--you’re going to have one soon.’ It was exactly one year later that we brought Alex home."
The Trexlers decided to look into adopting a Russian child because the process is much quicker than waiting for a child from the United States or another country such as China which also allows international adoption. Scott and Tracy went to visit Alex at the orphanage where he had spent most of his life prior to his adoption, something Scott said he appreciated doing very much.
"I liked the idea of being able to travel and see what Alex’s environment was like," he said, "but the cold temperatures in Russia are so intense they make you feel like you could pass out!"
Knowing they wanted to have a second child, the Trexlers once again set the
adoption wheels in motion. Another trip to Russia this past summer facilitated the adoption of their second child, Tasha, who is 15 months old. She is already deeply attached to her new Mom!
"Alex seemed to bond more quickly with Scott," Tracy said with a smile as she tenderly hugged her daughter, "but this one’s very attached to me."
Tracy said that throughout both adoptions they could really see God’s hand guiding their steps.
"When we went to get Alex, the Russian judge said we were going to have to wait 10 days before we could have him," Tracy recalled. "I was sick with what we now know was walking pneumonia, so we got on a plane and came back home. God knew we needed to come back to the States because if we hadn’t I could have been hospitalized in Russia!"
Tracy is now a full-time mom, although she does work part-time as a nursery coordinator at Central on Sunday mornings. She was raised at Central, recalling with a chuckle how she used to play on the steps at the Poplar Avenue building. Scott works at FedEx as a crew scheduler and has been a member of Central since 1994.
Tracy admits that being a stay-at-home mother was a major adjustment for her, but anyone can see by the smile on her face that she loves being "Mom." When asked, she replied quickly, "Yes, we want to adopt again!"
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