24 Years Ago, Doctors Gave Her Two Weeks To Live. Now She's Competing for Miss America
Born addicted to cocaine and not expected to live past two weeks, Tiffany Seitz, 24, is now competing in the Miss America pageant.
She was supposed to die before her first birthday. If she did survive, she was supposed to have severe mental and physical disabilities.
But Seitz, who was crowned Miss Pennsylvania earlier this year, has defied the odds and is now an advocate for foster care and adoption.
Seitz was born on the streets in August 1995, addicted to cocaine — a helpless infant struggling to detox from a powerful drug addiction that was not her fault.
“Obviously a child in that type of condition would be in the NICU getting treatment,” Seitz told People. “But sadly that wasn’t the case for me.”
“I was waiting in the streets, alone, while my mother was out prostituting trying to make money. It’s a rotten shame, but that was the reality for me.”
Seitz was placed in foster care and went to live with a family from Freeport, Pennsylvania, for what was supposed to be a temporary living arrangement.
“They said, ‘Would you be interested in taking this little girl in for the weekend? You know, she’s cocaine positive,’” Seitz told People. “She’s not expected to live long, but we need to put her somewhere because the home situation is bad.”
The weekend foster care arrangement turned into a long-term placement, and when Seitz was 2 1/2 years old, she was formally adopted by Len and Lori Seitz, a couple who had spent years raising children through the foster care system.
Lori quit her job as a nurse to devote her time and energy to Seitz, homeschooling her until she was in sixth grade. Len and Lori had been told to prepare for their daughter to have severe delays, but she never presented any physical or mental challenges or symptoms.
“I’m so grateful that my parents have given me so much, opportunities that I wouldn’t have had had it not been for the gift of adoption,” Seitz said. “I hope my story will inspire other people to consider doing the same thing.”
Seitz, who is competing in the Miss America pageant Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut, has made adoption advocacy her social impact initiative.
As she views her future through the lens of her past, Seitz believes God has orchestrated her life exactly the way he intended.
“That was about God’s hand in my life and what his plan was and what his destiny was for me,” Seitz said. “And lucky for me that has brought me here today.”
The week before the Miss America competition, Seitz posted a heartwarming update on Instagram, detailing how God’s hand has guided her throughout life.
“I enter this week with a grateful and prayerful heart that whatever the Lord’s desire is for my life will come to fruition in whatever way He wants,” she wrote.
“I shouldn’t be competing for the title of Miss America. I wasn’t supposed to have the job of Miss Pennsylvania. I wasn’t supposed to graduate college or high school. I wasn’t supposed to live beyond two weeks.”
“But God had a different plan,” she continued, “and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share with America what got me to where I am, what the gift of adoption has done for me, and what it can do for so many others.”
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