JD Vance's 12-year-old relative reportedly denied heart transplant by Cincinnati Children's Hospital because she is unvaccinated

Recently, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital reportedly refused to put a 12-year-old patient from Indiana on the heart transplant waiting list. The refusal was related to the heart patient’s vaccination status.

Adaline Deal, who is a distant relative of Vice President JD Vance, was born with two rare heart conditions, which is why she needs a transplant. The child has not received COVID-19 and flu vaccinations due to her family’s religious and medical beliefs, per The Cincinnati Enquirer. The same was conveyed to the children’s hospital by the patient’s family, who are nondenominational Christians.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where Deal has reportedly been receiving for almost a decade, seemingly did not entertain the family’s stance on vaccinations. The hospital apparently requires Adaline Deal to get both vaccinations to become eligible for the heart transplant waiting list. Jeneen Deal, who is Adaline’s adoptive mother, spoke to The Cincinnati Enquirer, sharing her disappointment,

"I thought, wow. So, it's not about the kid. It's not about saving her life.”

VP JD Vance’s relative further told the newspaper that she does not favor the vaccine and deems it “unsafe.” Jeneen also gave religious reasoning behind her family’s decision to choose against the vaccination.

“The Holy Spirit put it on our hearts,” she told the newspaper.

As of this writing, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has yet to respond to the news. However, The Cincinnati Enquirer contacted another expert to discuss the risks involved for patients like Adaline Deal receiving heart transplants.

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Heart transplant patients with COVID-19 reportedly have a higher fatality rate than others, as per the experts

Dr. Camille Kotton, who spoke to the news outlet, emphasized how the patients infected with COVID-19 have higher chances of death in comparison to others. Dr. Kotton said,

“In the beginning of the pandemic, we had many transplant patients become deathly ill and we actually lost a number of our transplant patients to COVID-19, because they are more likely to have severe outcomes. The first year after transplant is when they're at highest risk for infection, but they do have a lifelong risk of severe disease and transplant patients are still dying because of COVID-19.”

For the unversed, Dr. Kotton is Massachusetts General Hospital’s clinical director of transplant and immunocompromised host infectious diseases. In contrast to what the doctor told the newspaper, Adaline’s parents, Jeneen and Brayton, believe that their girl won’t face any issues related to COVID-19 following her transplant. Jeneen told the local outlet,

“We'll take it as we can if it happens. But I know I cannot put this (vaccine) in her body knowing what we know and how we feel about it.”

For the unversed, Jeneen and Brayton are parents to 12 kids, and eight of them are adopted.

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Jeneen and Brayton also launched a fundraiser for Adaline’s heart transplant

Adaline’s adoptive parents, Jeneen and Brayton, had created a fundraiser for their 12-year-old daughter’s heart transplant at the start of February 2025. After the news about her condition went viral, the fundraising campaign also received the attention of many. In the description, Adaline’s parents have described her current health status.

The Indian natives have written about Adaline being born with two rare heart conditions – Ebstein's anomaly and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. Due to both conditions, she was frequently admitted to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. However, as Adaline has grown up, she requires a heart transplant for survival.

The post also reveals how Jeneen and Brayton adopted her from China after missing their first chance to bring her home. Both Indiana residents adopted her when she was four years old.

As of this writing, their fundraiser is still active. Its goal is $100,000 (initially, $50K), and it has currently raised around $58K.