7 Little Johnstons: Who Is Anna Johnston?
Anna Johnston is one of the stars of TLC's "7 Little Johnstons." She and her four siblings share their lives alongside their parents, Trent and Amber, for fans to follow. Viewers have watched Anna navigate plenty of ups and downs through the multiple seasons of the series, and she's got quite an interesting backstory.
All of the Johnston family members have achondroplasia, a rare type of dwarfism, per People. Jonah and Elizabeth are Trent and Amber's biological children, while Anna along with her younger siblings Alex and Emma Johnston were adopted internationally. Anna was the family's first adopted child and was born in Russia. Amber explained in a post for the blog Rainbow Kids that both of her pregnancies had been quite difficult. She and her husband knew they couldn't grow the large family they dreamed of with additional biological children, but they were open to other means!
Amber was working for an organization called Little People of America when she learned about Anna. She was contacted by an adoption ministry who hoped she could utilize her connections to help one particular little girl with achondroplasia in Russia find a home. Amber was anxious to help, and it didn't take long for her to feel as if the child was meant to join their family. "The phone call to me was, 'Oh my gosh, I found our child," Trent teased on-screen of how Amber approached him about Anna. Read on for more about how Anna joined the Johnston family.
Anna Johnston had some trouble adjusting
Within a matter of months, Amber and Trent Johnston flew to Siberia, Russia to meet Anna, per Rainbow Kids. As they met her, "Trent and I looked at each other and could not believe how perfect she was," Amber wrote. Upon returning home, "Our new daughter immediately bonded with our son and daughter." Anna was nearly five then, and Amber later acknowledged Anna had needed time to adjust, especially since she "wasn't used to men," per People (via inTouch Weekly).
As Anna grew, she navigated some challenges that got her into trouble. A school spray painting incident as well as trouble while at the Little People of America Conference caused strife with her parents. Despite those issues, Anna graduated high school in May 2019. The TLC star had an interest in cosmetology but changed course fairly quickly. She moved to attend North Georgia Technical College to earn an early childhood education degree, per The Celebs Info.
The move wasn't one Anna was necessarily excited about initially. As she said in a "7 Little Johnstons" preview, she felt she had no choice. "I know why they want me off to college — so they don't have to deal with me," Anna tearfully declared. The "7 Little Johnstons" star started her own Etsy shop named Fizz4Passion, and despite the rough start, embraced the opportunity to be a resident's assistant at college. Anna turned 21 on May 7 and she certainly seems to have found her groove.