They Already Had Three Kids. They Thought That Would Work Against Them. It’s What Drew Lila’s Birth Mom In.

They married. They had three biological children – two girls and a boy – after navigating pregnancy loss and a medical emergency that made another pregnancy too dangerous to try again. Their family felt full. And then their oldest daughter started praying for another baby. Kids have a way of cutting through the noise.

Kellen started researching adoption. They made calls. They visited agencies. One told them, essentially, that they were stealing from other families by pursuing adoption when they already had biological children.

“It made us sit back and evaluate – are we competing, or is this something genuinely placed on our hearts?” Emily said. What they found, after honest reflection, was the latter.

They came to Adoption & Beyond. What they found there was calm, which matters enormously when you’re riding what Emily described as the adoption amusement park.

“There were ups, downs, loop-de-loops. Nothing you can equate it to. And anytime I got a call from Adoption & Beyond, no matter what the day held, it brought calm.”

“The thing we thought would be the hindrance was actually the draw.”

A second match followed quickly. Their birth mother was warm, open, and immediately connected. She let them attend prenatal appointments. She let their kids come to ultrasounds. Then COVID hit.

Emily was the only person allowed in the delivery room. For several days, it was just her and Lila’s birth mother – two women who loved the same baby. Kellen met Lila for the first time in a hospital waiting room.

“Without COVID, I wouldn’t have been gifted that one-on-one time,” Emily said. “It was simple. It was just two moms loving this little girl. What better way to start off her life.”

Lila’s birth mother stopped the group at the hospital exit to photograph the moment Kellen met his daughter. “She was thinking of us,” Emily said quietly, “in a moment of grief for herself.”

Today, Lila knows her biological family by name. Their photos are on the wall. And the detail of their profile that Emily worried would work against them? “She had biological siblings. She wanted her daughter to have siblings. The thing we thought was a hindrance was actually the draw.”

Emily and Kellen went on to found Leap of Faith, a nonprofit that helps offset adoption costs and provides mental health support for birth mothers. Their story, they say, was never meant to be just theirs.