Foster care stories vary from family to family. Tori Landis Martin and her husband had their small family of two more than doubled in December 2017. Their very first placement consisted of 3 siblings! In a matter of days, they went from taking care of only their needs to having to take care of a 1, 3, and 5-year-old as well. After that, they knew they wanted to continue to grow their family through adoption.
The Beginning of a Foster Care Story
They began the process thinking that it would only take around 3 months to complete. Unfortunately, sometimes the adoption process is delayed for one reason or another. For the Martin’s it took 21 long months to complete the entire adoption process. During those delayed months the couple began to foster the other biological siblings.
In September 2019 the couple officially adopted 5 children. The sixth sibling, a baby girl, still remained in their care. Before they knew it their family of two became a family of 5 then, after a few more months, a family of 8! Despite their lives changing so much, Tori Landis Martin says,
We call our life a beautiful mess and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
There is No Time to Worry
Being first-time parents can be intimidating for anyone. Yet, Tori and her husband actually thought that made the best experience. Not having enough time to worry about whether or not they would be ready-made them step up to the challenge. No one knows if they are ready to be parents to six kids but jumping off the deep end made the couple ready.
Making the decision to adopt is tough. Tori admits that the entire process can be mentally and emotionally straining. In her case the adoption process was only meant to last 3 months but ended up turning into almost 2 years. She says that everything was worth it in the end because she and her husband finally became parents to all six siblings.
In Conclusion
Thank you, Tori Landis Martin, for sharing your incredible story with us. If you’re in the process of fostering to adopt, Foster Love – Together We Rise also offers free adoption day photography through our Framing Forever program. Click here for more information!
