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Couple bands together with their adult children to adopt 9 siblings
Adopting nine kids would've been too much to take on. However, they came up with a unique way to keep them all in the same family.
Laura Shallcross
05.14.21

There are many reasons why you might choose to adopt, and it’s not always because you can’t have a baby yourself.

Adopting a child is the most rewarding experience you will have in your life. It allows anyone to be parents, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, and gives the opportunity to raise a child in need in a stable, loving home.

Many adopted children are able to grow up with a lifestyle that they may have otherwise not had.

That includes opportunities like going to college, attending after-school clubs, and even having a more encouraging and motivating social circle.

We’ve all thought about adoption from time to time, but it’s a huge deal, and most people will only end up choosing to adopt one or two children. But that’s not always the case!

Dylan Nolte/ Unsplash
Source:
Dylan Nolte/ Unsplash

Take Thad and Loryn, for instance, who have adopted 9 children… sort of.

The couple had never intended to adopt any children, but a few months before it all happened, they were sent a picture of a group of 8 siblings.

There was a message attached to the image, which simply read: “Will you consider this?”

Caters Clips/ YouTube
Source:
Caters Clips/ YouTube

Thad and Loryn knew a thing or two about adopting, having done it before… but they believed that they were “done” with it.

The most that they could do, for the time being, was to pray for the children.

Patrick Fore/ Unsplash
Source:
Patrick Fore/ Unsplash

When you have a true connection with God, you become intuitive to His messages. So when Loryn and Thad began to pray for the children, they felt that God was asking them to be open about adopting.

Still, there was no getting past the fact that the couple simply weren’t prepared to cater for 8 children.

But when they discussed the situation with their adult children, something unexpected happened.

Caters Clips/ YouTube
Source:
Caters Clips/ YouTube

Loryn and Thad’s son Jacob and daughter-in-law Peggy offered to take some of the children. Suddenly, everything clicked into place – and Loryn recalled that “peace settled over all of us”.

She added:

“We each knew we could do 4 children well, while allowing them to grow up in the same family together. It was time to move forward!”

Caters Clips/ YouTube
Source:
Caters Clips/ YouTube

But, of course, it’s never quite as straightforward as it first seems.

As it turned out, there weren’t 8 children after all. There were 9.

As the family moved forward with the adoption process, the ninth baby was born. But Loryn, Thad, Peggy and Jacob were committed now. There was no going back.

It was decided that Jacob and Peggy would take the youngest 4 children and Thad and Loryn would take the 5 older children.

Caters Clips/ YouTube
Source:
Caters Clips/ YouTube

They had planned to move along slowly, but an emergency took that out of their hands.

The younger children needed to be moved from their foster home right now – so they joined Jacob and Peggy instantly.

Loryn and Thad, on the other hand, would be opening their doors to the older children just three days before Christmas.

Now, Jacob, Peggy, Loryn and Thad have one goal: to give their adopted children the best life possible.

Caters Clips/ YouTube
Source:
Caters Clips/ YouTube

Loryn said that not everyone had agreed with her decision, but she knew that it was the right thing to do.

“We’ve heard so many people say ‘You’re crazy! What are you thinking? You were down to one child!’ and ‘Don’t you know you can’t save the world!'”

She continued:

“Our response is, ‘there is no doubt we are crazy we have parented 15 children full time and fostered over 100 children through our years as foster parents. But we choose to be crazy for the sake of the Gospel rather than living and empty and self-centered life. We feel it boils down to this….If not us, then who?'”

Good for her! If we were all as open-minded and open-hearted as Loryn and her family, the world would be a wonderful place.

You can learn more about the story, and meet the foster children, in the video below!

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