In a story that has ignited a national conversation, a 12-year-old girl who is a distant relative of U.S. Vice President JD Vance was refused a lifegiving heart transplant because she is unvaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu. Adaline Deal, who has two rare heart conditions, has become the focus of an intense debate over medical ethics, religious freedom, and vaccine mandates.
Adaline’s Medical Journey
Adaline was born with two major heart conditions: Ebstein’s anomaly, which makes one of her heart valves leak, and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, which causes her heart to beat abnormally quickly — sometimes producing a pulse of up to 250 beats a minute. These circumstances placed her at a high risk of unrestricted heart failure and cardiac arrest. Adaline was adopted at age four from China by Jeneen and Brayton Deal, a devout Christian couple from Indiana who have 11 other children, eight of them also adopted. The Deals knew from the beginning that Adaline would eventually require a heart transplant.
Adaline has been undergoing treatment at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for almost nine years, one of the premier facilities for pediatric organ transplants. But in January 2025, her doctor told the family that her heart was failing and she would need to be transplanted soon. But there was one caveat: The hospital requires all transplant patients to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu.
The Vaccine Controversy
The Deals, members of a nondenominational Christian church, declined to vaccinate Adaline, citing religious and medical beliefs. The choice was made after “the Holy Spirit put it on our hearts,” Jeneen Deal said. Elizondo is concerned about vaccines’ safety, saying, “I know I cannot put this [vaccine] in her body knowing what we know and how we feel about it.
But the hospital insisted on its policy. A spokesperson for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital noted that their clinical decisions are “guided by science, research, and best practices.” The need for vaccines is particularly important for transplant patients, who face a far greater risk of life-threatening infections because of the immunosuppressive drugs they must take after the surgery, they said. The first year after a transplant is particularly risky, and patients are vulnerable to severe infections throughout their lives, said Dr. Camille Kotton, the transplant infectious disease expert who wrote the recommendation.
A Family’s Struggle
THE Deals were devastated by the hospital’s decision. “I thought, wow. So, it’s not about the kid. It’s not about saving her life of hers,” Jeneen Deal told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “The family even started a GoFundMe to help raise money for Adaline’s transplant, which has now raised over $50,000 (as of February 13, 2025)”.
The Deals are now exploring taking Adaline to another transplant center that doesn’t require vaccinations. But good luck finding one, because most transplant centers have something similar to protect their patients.
Broader Implications
Adaline’s case has opened up the debate again on vaccine mandates and religious exemptions. Vaccines are highly recommended for transplant patients, though they are not federally mandated in the U.S. That leaves individual hospitals to come up with their policies, which may differ significantly.
A handful of lawmakers have picked up the cause. Ohio Rep. Jennifer Gross is co-sponsoring a bill that would require hospitals to treat every patient regardless of vaccination status. “I’m proud to be the sponsor of the Ohio bill designed to prevent discrimination against religious liberty,” Gross wrote on social media. The Deals, who are collaborating with Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, hope the bill will prevent others from having to confront similar struggles.
Ethics and Medicine
From a medical perspective, the hospital’s policy stems from a need to protect vulnerable patients. People who have had organ transplants have a much higher risk of serious illness and death from infections such as COVID-19. Vaccines are essential to mitigate these risks.
However, the Deals and their supporters argue that the policy violates their religious freedom and parental rights. “It’s 2025. It’s time to get past all this insanity.” [Getting vaccinated] should be your choice,” Jeneen Deal, said.
Conclusion
Adaline Deal’s story is a heartbreaking case of the collision between medical necessity and personal beliefs. That has led the family to seek a solution, and it has generated a wider conversation about walking the line between individual freedoms and public health priorities.
