Questions,
Answered.

CHD affects approximately 1 in 100 live births globally, making it the most common birth defect in the world. In the United States alone, roughly 40,000 babies are born with CHD every year. An estimated 2.5 million adults in the U.S. are currently living with congenital heart disease. Despite these numbers, CHD receives significantly less public awareness and research funding than many other pediatric conditions. That disparity is one of the reasons Adrian founded Heartbeat Forward and dedicates his advocacy to closing that gap.

Adult heart disease is typically acquired over time due to lifestyle factors, aging, or conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes. Congenital heart disease is structural, meaning the heart developed differently before birth. It is not caused by anything a parent did during pregnancy. CHD affects the architecture of the heart itself — its walls, valves, chambers, or major blood vessels — and requires specialized pediatric and adult congenital cardiology care. Unlike many forms of adult heart disease, CHD requires lifelong management regardless of how successful a surgery may be.

CHD is not curable in the traditional sense, but many defects can be repaired or managed through surgery, catheter-based procedures, or lifelong medical management. Thanks to advances in pediatric cardiac care, more than 90% of children born with CHD in the U.S. today are expected to survive into adulthood. However, most CHD survivors require lifelong cardiac monitoring and follow-up care. Living with CHD is a lifelong journey — not a single surgery and a closed chapter. That lifelong reality is central to everything Heartbeat Forward does.

Heartbeat Forward is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Adrian Adair in 2025, based in Los Angeles, California. The organization is dedicated to congenital heart disease awareness, delivering care packages to children in cardiac units, providing family support resources, funding the Heartbeat Forward Scholarship for CHD survivor high school seniors, and working toward a future where no child is denied life-saving heart surgery due to lack of resources.

Care package requests can be submitted directly through Heartbeat Forward's website at heartbeatforward.org. Heartbeat Forward delivers care packages to children in cardiac units and to families navigating congenital heart disease diagnoses. For the most current availability and eligibility information, please visit the site directly. If you represent a hospital or cardiac unit and are interested in an ongoing partnership, please reach out through the contact page.

The Heartbeat Forward Scholarship is awarded to CHD survivor high school seniors pursuing higher education. It was established to recognize the extraordinary resilience of young people who have navigated life with congenital heart disease, and to invest in their futures. Information about eligibility requirements, application deadlines, and award details is available on the Scholarship page at adrian-adair.com.

You can support Heartbeat Forward by donating at heartbeatforward.org, sharing CHD awareness content across your platforms, nominating a deserving CHD survivor senior for the scholarship, or reaching out about institutional partnerships, hospital collaborations, or sponsorship opportunities. Every act of support — no matter the size — helps ensure that more children in cardiac units receive care, more families find the resources they need, and more voices are raised for CHD awareness.

Adrian has developed one of the most comprehensive libraries of free CHD family guides available online, covering every stage of a congenital heart disease journey. Topics include: understanding a CHD diagnosis, navigating the first 90 days after diagnosis, preparing for pediatric heart surgery, parent mental health and caregiver wellbeing, financial and insurance guidance, post-surgery recovery at home, feeding and nutrition for children with CHD, sibling support, school accommodations for CHD children, and age-specific guides for children from infancy through adolescence. All guides are available free at adrian-adair.com.

Small Hearts, Loud Voices is Adrian Adair's podcast dedicated entirely to congenital heart disease advocacy. Each episode follows a four-part format: The Fact (a key CHD statistic or truth), The Story (a human narrative), The Encouragement (words for families and survivors), and The Call to Action (a tangible step listeners can take). The podcast closes with the words: "Because every small heart deserves a loud voice." It is available on all major podcast platforms.

Adrian has written three books under his Teneritas publishing imprint. The Quiet Majority: Why Congenital Heart Disease Deserves to Be Seen is a call-to-action for awareness and advocacy, published in 2026. Letters to the Waiting Room is a collection of 14 intimate letters addressed to specific people at specific moments in a CHD journey — parents, siblings, survivors, caregivers, and bereaved families. You Were Built Different is written directly to children with CHD, in a lyrical, affirming voice that celebrates who they are. All books are available through Adrian's website and on Amazon.

Adrian Adair is a congenital heart disease advocate, author, and the founder of Heartbeat Forward. Based in Los Angeles, he has built one of the most comprehensive personal CHD advocacy platforms in the country, producing free family resources, three published books, a podcast, a scholarship program, and a growing nonprofit infrastructure. His goal is to make his name and Heartbeat Forward permanently inseparable from the CHD advocacy conversation — and to ensure that congenital heart disease is no longer an invisible cause.

Adrian's long-term vision encompasses hospital partnerships, an annual CHD summit, congressional testimony on behalf of CHD families, a Heartbeat Forward Institute for CHD Research and Advocacy, a documentary or docuseries bringing CHD stories to mainstream audiences, and ultimately funding pediatric heart surgeries for children who would otherwise not have access. The full scope of this vision is outlined at The Long-Term Vision.

Yes. Adrian is available for keynote addresses, panel discussions, hospital and institutional presentations, CHD awareness events, and media appearances. His speaking work covers congenital heart disease awareness, pediatric cardiac advocacy, nonprofit leadership, family support, and the human side of CHD. To submit a speaking inquiry, visit the Media & Speaking page or reach out through the contact page.

Heartbeat Forward actively seeks partnerships with hospitals, children's cardiac units, research institutions, and community organizations aligned with CHD awareness and support. Partnership opportunities include care package distribution programs, co-branded awareness campaigns, research collaboration, and community education initiatives. To discuss a potential institutional partnership, please reach out through the contact page and select Institutional Collaboration as your inquiry type.

All inquiries are welcome and reviewed thoughtfully. You can reach Adrian directly through the contact page at adrian-adair.com. Please include relevant details about your organization or the nature of your request, and Adrian or his team will respond as promptly as possible. For Heartbeat Forward-specific inquiries, you can also reach out at heartbeatforward.org.