It’s not easy for people to make the decision to foster or adopt. There are all sorts of financial and emotional costs associated with it. However, it is one of the noblest decisions someone can make. So many children are in need of homes, often because they are born into situations where the family can’t care for them. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for multiple children from a family to end up in the foster care system. Furthermore, due to a variety of factors, it’s not always possible for those children to stay together. So, imagine one foster mother’s joy to find out her adopted child and her foster child were biologically related.
The Decision To Foster
Katie Page, 36, from Parker, Colorado, had one dream above all others. “My life was incomplete without being a mother,” she says. However, after divorcing in her early 30s with no children, that seemed less than likely to happen.
“Life had obviously not turned out quite like I hoped,” she admits. But all was not lost. “I felt called to serve as a mother in a non-traditional way,” she says.
In 2016, Page began fostering children. “Foster care was a small step into motherhood that allowed me to give back and test out if I really could do it all on my own without a significant other.”
After fostering 4 children, Page decided to take that last plunge into motherhood, adopting Grayson from the hospital as a baby on May 25th, 2017. “The minute I saw him in the hospital, I fell in love,” Page says. “He’s so calm and sweet. He has the biggest challenges of all the kids.”
Her Next Foster Child
A month after Page had adopted Grayson, she was contacted about another child, Hannah.
“[The foster care workers] told me her story, which was really similar to Grayson’s,” Page says. As soon as Page met her, she knew she wanted to adopt her. However, something else immediately caught her attention. “I saw her medical bracelet and the first name of her mother was the same name as Grayson’s mom. She didn’t have a typical name,” explains Page.
Other clues about the mother weren’t readily available–Grayson’s mother had lied about her last name and date of birth.
Sadly, there was one more major clue linking the two children together. Both Hannah and Grayson had had prenatal exposure to methamphetamine.
To confirm, she had the children DNA tested. It turns out, she was right. Grayson and Hannah were siblings. (1, 2)
What’s Next For The Pages?
Page adopted Hannah at 18 months old. Additionally, Grayson and Hannah have a third sibling, who Page is also hopeful she can adopt.
Adoption wasn’t an easy process, though. “With the help of amazing attorneys and caseworkers, we made it through what could have been really difficult,” Page says. “The caseworkers, guardians and I all cried in celebration the day she joined our family forever.”
However, despite the difficulty, she doesn’t regret it for a second. “If people feel called and have the capacity to help a child, I believe it is one of the most rewarding life experiences you will ever have,” she says.