“I picked up my phone and thought to myself, ‘Hmm, I wonder what she’s up to.’ I saw an image I thought was a mistake. It was baby number 4. ’Somehow, someway, send that baby to her siblings.’ I knew in my heart we were going to experience this all over again.”
‘What’s your kid’s biological mom’s name?’ Our kids’ sister had been placed with my best friend. My heart leaped.’: Couple adopts 5 siblings from foster care, ‘There was a greater purpose in it all’
‘We’ve dealt with lice, super lice, lies, fighting, suspension, sexting, smoking, vaping, and drugs. It wasn’t our plan, but God had other plans.’: After infertility, mom fosters 10 kids
“I remember yelling at God in my minivan after another depressing doctor’s appointment. This wasn’t our plan. ‘Are you going to take me?’ His room was concrete blocks, no outlets, and a window so high you couldn’t see out.”
‘Mom, I got 2 shirts! I look SO cool!’ It takes you back to that painful moment. You start to count the days.’: Foster mom describes journey, ‘It will make your head spin’
“I hear, ‘I would never be able to give a child back.’ It’s chaotic and heart wrenching. There are times you want your peaceful home back. Love isn’t always wanting what’s best for someone.”
‘We ‘couldn’t handle’ being foster parents. We had just packed up our house and were moving in a week. ‘Do you have room for a placement?’: Family seeking adoption welcomes foster baby, ‘There is never a perfect time’
“We found out we were pregnant with our 4th child. We were very surprised! So many people tried to talk us out of renewing our license. I felt like I ‘couldn’t handle it.’ Then, we got a call. ‘Can you take him?’ I am willing to risk a broken heart.”
‘I got the call. ‘She has no name and no parents.’ This tiny baby was detoxing so bad she couldn’t eat.’: Mom adopts and fosters 16 kids after pregnancy loss, ‘I gave them my all’
“I got the call. The one I never in a million years thought I would receive. She had no prenatal care, she was not born in the hospital, and she was detoxing from multiple narcotics. ‘You have 2 minutes to choose a name.’ We went from one child to 4 in the span of 5 months.”
‘The family stopped answering. ‘They’ve backed out of the adoption.’ They wanted a healthy baby, not my son with a disability.’: Mom of 5 adopts special needs child after rejections, now in beautiful open adoption with birth mom
“Once Noah was born, the whole room was creepily quiet. Finally, one of the doctors said, ‘It looks like the baby may have a disability.’ Suddenly, the family I thought would love him didn’t even want him because he wasn’t ‘perfect.’ Neither did the next. Then, we found Jerene. ‘Are you interested in a special needs adoption? We have a baby boy who needs a family like, yesterday!’ Already 5 children of her own, her response was, ‘Why not?’ I was bawling.”
‘One line. Please, one line.’ I was 17, peeing on a stick in a McDonald’s bathroom. 3 minutes later, two pink lines showed my fate. Pregnant.’: Single teen mom becomes twin mom, birth mom, adoptive mom, and stepmom, now mom of 8
“The ultrasound tech made a funny face. ‘I’ll be right back.’ Moments later, she entered with another technician. ‘See this?’ she said. ‘This is baby A, and this is baby B.’ TWINS? From a one-night stand? I was 6 months pregnant when I came home from school to my dad wanting to talk. ‘Mom and I think you should give this child away.’ I was angry, heartbroken, and completely beside myself. 13 days later, I found myself in a courtroom.”
‘MOM, why did you say no!? We want that kid to come here!’ We fell in love. and it wasn’t hard or forced or even on purpose.’: Mom’s long foster journey leads to adoption, ‘It wasn’t a dream anymore. This was real’
“My jaw dropped when I saw your little face. ‘Why did you give me a baby who seems like my own?’ It didn’t seem fair to have to give you back. This was only supposed to be a seven-day thing.”
‘An older woman came up to me in Publix. ‘Wow, those boys are lucky to have been chosen by a white woman.’ I was shocked into silence.’: Foster mom to twins urges ‘we need to do better’
“I didn’t know how to respond. I just looked at her, shocked into silence. The night I got my foster twins, I knew our life would look different to others. I knew there would be stares. But I wasn’t fully prepared for the comments that would unfold.”
‘I was single with a big, empty house. I had so much love to offer! ‘Can you take in a 10-month-old baby?’ A lightbulb went off.’: Single woman embarks on emotional foster mom journey, ‘I’d repeat it all over again’
“I buckled baby J into his seat and gave him a quick kiss. ‘I’ll see you later.’ The lump in my throat was painful as ever. I turned away to see J’s brother crying. I absolutely lost it. I panicked, trying to catch my breath. I went from being a mom to no longer being a mom in a matter of minutes.”
