Couple Who Went from 0 to 9 Kids in 3 Years Says Life Is ‘Definitely Chaotic & Definitely Beautiful’
A Pennsylvania couple who has always wanted children got their wish — not once, but nine times over — when they adopted four children and welcomed one of their own, before having a set of quadruplets.
Maxine Young tells PEOPLE that while she and her husband Jake, 32, have always wanted a big family, they never expected to have nine kids, especially within a three-year period.
But that’s exactly what happened to the Youngs, who now share an adopted set of four siblings — Aiden, 8; Parker, 5; Connor, 4; and Elliott, 3 — a 23-month-old biological son, Henry, and 8-week-old biological quadruplets, Theo, Silas, Beck and Cecilia.
Maxine and Jake’s journey to parenthood began in July 2017, about a year after the couple tied the knot. At the time, the Youngs knew they wanted children and were both open to the idea of adoption.
With Maxine and Jake on the same page, the pair began taking classes about the foster care process. Before they knew it, they had been approved, and close to a month later on July 28, 2017, they received a call about fostering three kids.
Six months into fostering the kids, Maxine learned she was pregnant with her and Jake’s first biological child.
The news was incredibly exciting for the couple, as they had been trying for a baby through IVF and suffered two miscarriages before conceiving Henry through IUI.
But little did they know, that was only the beginning of their expanding family.
Just a few months before Maxine and Jake welcomed their son Henry in October, the couple learned that the rights of the four children’s biological parents had been terminated after failing to show up for scheduled visits.
On Dec. 20 — with the children’s biological grandparents in attendance — Jake and Maxine officially became the parents of Aiden, Parker, Connor and Elliott.
The happy moment was documented on Maxine’s Instagram, where she said becoming their mother was the “most meaningful and fulfilling role of my lifetime.”
Just when things couldn’t seem to get any more chaotic, Maxine says she got the surprise of a lifetime: she was pregnant with triplets. A few weeks and several ultrasounds later, doctors confirmed she was actually carrying four babies, not three.
Despite doctors advising the Youngs to “reduce [the babies] to two” in order to give them a better chance at survival, the couple refused to do so and continued along with the pregnancy, while receiving financial support through a GoFundMe page set up by Jake’s mom.
Then, at 21 weeks along, Maxine’s cervix starting shortening so she and Jake traveled to Phoenix to see an experienced specialist.
Then, at 21 weeks along, Maxine’s cervix starting shortening so she and Jake traveled to Phoenix to see an experienced specialist.
It was there that she underwent a cerclage and safely delivered Theo, Silas, Beck and Cecilia via C-Section on July 31 — a moment that was documented on the couple’s YouTube channel, The Family Young VLogs.
Because they arrived early, all four babies spent time in the NICU — at both the Phoenix hospital and a local one in Pennsylvania — before they were discharged one-by-one, beginning with Cecilia and ending with Beck.
Now, at home with their nine children amid a global pandemic, Maxine and Jake say they can’t imagine life any other way — even if things are currently very challenging.
“It’s definitely chaotic and it’s definitely beautiful,” Maxine shares. “Seeing our older kids hold the babies is definitely beautiful, but also it’s chaotic. And with COVID, we have all of the kids home … [and] have to do online schooling with them.”
“But I think that we make it work, and Jake and I always say everyone’s struggles are relative,” she continues. “People struggle with one child, and people struggle with two children, but we’ve only known the chaos of a large family. We went from zero to four, so we just make it work.”
Adds Jake: “I’m one of two, and Maxine is one of three. So it’s not like we have this experience of having a large family and know what that’s like. But here we are!”
Source: people.com, littlethings.com
