Foster mother donating a kidney to her adopted son

RAYNE, La. (KLFY) – Two foster parents discovered an incredible miracle while searching for a kidney for their son in need of a transplant. 

Jaxon, known as Jack-Jack, is a 3-year-old little boy whose adopted mother is his kidney donor match. The family says they are fortunate because this will save their son’s life. "I'm taking mama's kidney. Look at mama's kidney shirt, my kidney shirt,” said Jaxon Backer.

Jeanne and Eli Backer have been fostering kids since 2013. In 2019 entered a new addition to their life, Jaxson. "He's crazy. He's so full of energy and ready to play all the time,” said Jeanne Backer. "When he gets mad, his face turns red, and his hair turns redder. He acts a lot like Jack-Jack from the Incredibles."

The Backers say their son is on dialysis and other medications. He also requires a kidney transplant, but the results of what came next were a surprise to the family. "We wanted to be the first one tested just before anybody else did it just to see if there was any chance of us being a match. We didn't think it was very likely with him being adopted,” said Backer. "Come to find out both of our blood types matched his,” she said. 

Backer says Jaxson's father Eli's blood type was an O blood type, and she was an A blood type. Jaxson is an A negative. So he needed an A kidney or an O kidney. "I was excited. I don't know if he was too excited that it was me instead of him, but that's what I wanted. I wanted him to have my kidney."

Jack-Jack and his mother are scheduled to have transplant surgery on March 16th in New Orleans. They set up a GoFundMe account to help with expenses.