Terri and Mike Hawthorn fell in love when they were in high school. They’ve been married for nearly 40 years and have four biological kids. As teenagers, they probably never expected they’d one day have so many children, but as their kids grew older, they felt an undeniable calling to bring more kids into their home — kids who needed love and warmth more than anything in the world.
Terri and Mike began taking in foster children. In just five years, they helped a whopping 80 children.
They never expected adoption to be in the cards… but again, that familiar calling returned.
When the couple fostered a little boy named Korgen, they fell so in love with him that they knew he was meant to be their son forever. And when they learned he a little newborn sister, they decided to adopt them both.
According to Adoptuskids.org, “Research suggests that siblings placed together experience lower risk of failed placements, fewer moves, and many emotional benefits. Siblings placed together often feel more secure and are able to help each other adjust to their new family and community.”
Right around the time they adopted Korgen and his sister, Terri and Mike met began fostering yet another set of siblings. At first, there were only three.
Then they discovered the set of three had two more siblings. And then another. “And then it just kept on growing from there…”
This group of brave and resilient siblings were born into lives of abuse, neglect, and malnourishment. They constantly worried where their next meal would come from. Some of them had never even slept in a bed before. Perhaps the most difficult part of all was the fact they were split apart and repeatedly shuffled from home-to-home for three years before entering the Hawthorns’ lives.
But oh, how things have changed…
Source : https://www.littlethings.com/family-adopts-9-siblings-2/