The film begins with Mr. and Mrs. DeBolt traveling from their home in California to New York, where they will adopt their 19th child, a blind and physically disabled teen named "J.R." The adoption process for J.R., his integration into the family, and his struggle to develop sufficient physical strength to climb the staircase inside the family home are used as a unifying device for telling the story of how the DeBolts became involved in the adoption of "special needs" children and showing how the family approaches the challenges of raising their unusual family.