After marrying the love of her life, Katie became pregnant right away. In their first four years of marriage, she and her husband welcomed two boys and two girls.
Following the birth of her fourth child, Katie began experiencing depression due to hormones. Still, she felt there were more children in her future.
“We're driving home from the hospital, and we pull up into our driveway. I heard a voice say, ‘There's more,’” she said.
Enjoying New Motherhood Again
Four years later, Katie and her husband felt it was time to try for another child. Before long, the couple became pregnant again.
Their fifth child, Emmett, came into the world in February 2020. After a perfect pregnancy, she was feeling optimistic.
Katie knew there were more children to come but didn’t know how many. She prayed on this, and the answer came to her: she was meant to have two more babies.
Remaining Hopeful Despite Profound Loss
Soon after Emmett was born, Katie got pregnant. Tragically, she lost the baby and miscarried at 11 weeks. She would go on to miscarry three more times.
Katie couldn’t help but remember the response to her prayer. It wasn’t until she met up with an old friend from college that she realized what that response meant.
Meeting the Right Person at the Right Time
Katie mentioned to her college friend that she was thinking about fostering. It felt like fate when her friend said she knew a foster mom. Katie ended up meeting the foster mom that day.
As Katie conversed with her about foster care, it became clear their lives paralleled each other. Like her, the foster mom had also experienced miscarriages.
Becoming a Foster Parent with Catholic Charities
The next week, a coworker of Katie’s husband posted on Facebook about Catholic Charities Foster Care and Adoption. The post mentioned Jodi Duran, a licensing worker with the agency. When she realized she knew Jodi, it felt like another sign.
“[There were these] really cool puzzle pieces of all these people that I knew coming together. But it was orchestrated in such a way that it was such a beautiful thing,” Katie said.
Within two months, Katie and her husband were licensed to foster with Catholic Charities. After a few false alarms, she got a call about two brothers, a two-year-old and a newborn. The boys were placed with her family in May 2023.
A Family Finds Its Missing Pieces
The boys had the same biological father but different biological mothers. In February 2024, the boys’ father lost his parental rights, and the baby’s mother lost her rights as well. It is devastating for children when they cannot be reunified with their biological parents and often times, adoption into a loving home is the best option.
A few months later, Katie and her husband received the news that they could adopt baby Miles. In May 2024, they celebrated his adoption day in a courtroom full of friends and family.
Katie continues to foster the baby’s older brother whose biological mother still has parental rights. If that changes, Katie will adopt him and keep the brothers together. In the meantime, Katie is creating memories with the boys and watching them thrive in a safe and loving environment.
