Murphy's Way: Adopt At-Risk Kids

Tuesday, the special series with People magazine, Heroes Among Us, profiles Jeanette and John Murphy, a very special couple with a very big and wonderful family. The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith reports.

"All the kids want to cook their own eggs in the morning," says Jeanette Murphy. "They don't want us to do it. They each want to do it, so it can go on and on all morning."

John and Jeanette Murphy are the parents of 17 adopted children who are all developmentally disabled. Thirteen have Down syndrome.

"For us, it's just normal; there's nothing abnormal for us," Jeanette Murphy says. "But I know when people first come here, they are overwhelmed."

Her husband, who is a licensed nurse, met Jeanette Murphy when both were working at a group home for the mentally impaired. Both felt a calling to help those with special needs.

"Our goal was to work with children when they were very young to teach them to be more independent," Jeanette Murphy says.

Back in 1983, the couple had biological children of their own when they adopted Shannon, a severely brain damaged 5-year-old. Over the years, the family steadily grew.

"We never thought we were doing something to help the world," Jeanette Murphy says. "We just knew we were doing something that we loved doing. And we were helping individual children.

"I never dreamed that we would adopt this many. But, in the end, they just kept coming. I mean, we got phone calls or referrals — or parents, actually, would come out here looking and meeting us, and saying 'This is where I want my child to be.' "

Nobody is waited on in the Murphy household. The children are expected to help with the chores and everyone pitches in.

"It's important to give them a feeling of self-worth to get up and do things instead of having things done for them all the time," John Murphy says. "We start with little things, and they accomplish that, and they do other jobs. It's pretty neat how they can learn. They're pretty hard workers."

Children with Down syndrome often have health problems.

"We took in a lot of medically fragile children and, so, there were colostomies and gastrostomy tubes," Jeanette Murphy says, "and we've been through at least 14 heart surgeries."

Some health problems have been fatal. During the years, the Murphys have lost five children, and the fact that they were physically fragile when adopted didn't make the loss less painful.

"It knocks the wind out of you," Jeanette Murphy says. "Jonathan had Leukemia; then three years later, we lost Nicky. I think the worse thing you can go through is losing your child. I feel as close to any of them as I would any child that I gave birth to."

The Murphy's have four biological children, all of whom are now grown. Daughter Bethany still lives at home and says she's glad her parents adopted.

"I definitively have more patience," Bethany Murphy says. "But you have to with this many kids running around. I'm definitively glad I have a big family. I love having all these kids around. It makes it such a happy environment."

The Murphy tribe is so big, they need a small bus to travel. But the kids enjoy doing the same kind of things as any other family.

"I think there are misconceptions as to what a Down syndrome child can do," Jeanette Murphy says. "All of them have exceeded out expectations. We give them the opportunity, and they go with it."

The Murphys say they don't know where their children would be today if they hadn't adopted them. But it's doubtful any would have found a family that loves them more.

"What our kids get here is what every child needs," Jeanette Murphy says. "It's a family and parents that care about them. They also have brothers and sisters they bond with and watch out for each other. They've got love and everything we feel like they need in a family."