A home that begins in the heart – a story of adoption, empathy, and everyday courage

Emilia Woźniak never wanted to be a heroine. She wanted to create a home—a warm, safe, and authentic one. A place where there is room for healing, fear, fatigue, but above all, love. She is a nurse, but even more so, she is a mother. Every day, she combines medical knowledge with intuition and experience that are difficult to describe in textbook language.

This article accompanies an episode of the Medical Talks podcast, in which Joanna Sobolewska talks to Emilia Woźniak—the adoptive mother of Dominik and Antos—about adoption, empathy, and the fact that children are not always born from the womb, but can always come straight to the heart.

In this article, we discuss, among other things:

• what is adoption that takes into account the child's health needs

• how medical knowledge affects the experience of motherhood

• why treatment becomes part of everyday family life

• how to talk to children about adoption and illness without fear

• What is home really when life presents difficult circumstances?

A decision that was not a plan, but a choice

Emilia's journey to motherhood began in a place that is usually associated with treatment rather than new life. Working as a nurse in the post-operative ward of a children's hospital, she saw many sick children and their parents. It was there that she received a call from an adoption center with information about a two-and-a-half-year-old boy with a severe lower limb deficiency. Although initially, like many prospective parents, she dreamed of a healthy newborn, very quickly a question arose that changed everything: "If not us, then who?"

The adoption process was long and demanding. They lacked a formal marriage period, and successive centers refused to accept their documents. Only one of them took into account the entire history of the relationship, not just the date of the wedding. The first meeting with Dominik dispelled all doubts. The boy ran up smiling, full of energy, even though his left leg was several centimeters shorter than the right. For Emilia, he was simply a child – not a "medical case." She knew then that this decision was irreversible.

Treatment that becomes part of life

Medical knowledge helps Emilia make informed decisions, but at the same time makes her experience each procedure more intensely. Dominik's first operation, which lasted several hours, was a turning point – time passed more slowly, and every minute brought fear. At the same time, it was this knowledge that allowed the family to choose treatment outside the National Health Fund system. Instead of years of staged reconstruction of individual joints, they opted for a single, comprehensive operation, which reduced the number of procedures and the child's suffering.

The treatment also required fundraising, which became a difficult but necessary part of everyday life. Emilia emphasizes that fundraising is not "easy money," but rather a huge emotional and organizational effort. The most precious moments are those when they can stop fighting for a moment and just be a family—without deadlines, surgeries, and numbers.

At the same time, Antoś came into their lives. The decision to adopt a second son was made almost simultaneously with the news of Dominik's urgent surgery. It was a time of chaos, hospital corridors, and divided parental roles. Antoś also required treatment—he underwent heart surgery. Today, his health is stable and the family can focus on their life together.

Empathy that builds a family

Dominik understands empathy perfectly – not as an abstract concept, but as an everyday experience. For him, empathy means love, community, and family. It means falling asleep together, hugging after difficult rehabilitation, and knowing that pain does not preclude closeness. The boys know they are adopted. Emilia told them the truth from the beginning, in simple words, without secrets. Antoś proudly repeats that he was born in his mother's heart.

The story of this family is not a story about illness. It is a story about choosing love, a choice that must be made every day with the full awareness that it will be difficult. Emilia Woźniak's home is a place where treatment, fear, and fatigue do not take away humanity, and empathy is not just a slogan, but a foundation. It is a reminder that family begins where someone says, "You are mine" — regardless of the diagnosis.