adoptedbythestars

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Actress Jen Lilley (who can next be seen in Royally Wrapped for ChristmasNov. 27 on GAC Family) and her husband Jason Wayne are the proud parents of three — Kayden, 5, and Jeffrey, 3, whom they adopted from foster care, and daughter Julie, 2 — with another baby on the way in 2022. Lilley has long been an advocate for children in foster care and has lobbied Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services for foster care reform, specifically to stop premature reunification.

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A Michigan couple says their house is full of “love and chaos” after they took six siblings under their wing and adopted them as their own.

Gabrielle and Shannon Fessenden were already parents to two children but had always wanted to adopt, too, Gabrielle told Good Morning America.

While browsing through the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange website, Gabrielle stumbled upon photos of three siblings — Jordan, Jay and Myah — who were to be separated if they were unable to find a home in the coming weeks. (x) 

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Five siblings that were living apart in foster care have been reunited permanently thanks to one loving Texas family.

On May 6, husband and wife Andi and Thomas Bonura decided to officially adopt siblings Thomas, 8, Carter, 8, David, 6, Gabrielle, 4 and Bryson, 2, facilitated by DePelchin Children's Center via Zoom call.

Now, the couple are legal parents to eight kids total: their five newly adopted children and their biological children Joey, 11, Sadie, 10 and Daphne, 8.

"These are their brothers and sisters and there's no argument," Andi told Good Morning America in an interview published Monday. "The kids have been through a lot but they're the sweetest. They're amazing — and resilient." (x) 

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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 (the TV Show!) 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.

"This wasn't like what we intended. We didn’t plan to have this large of a family," Maxine, 30, says. "But it just seems like these babies are meant to be. I can't imagine not having all four of them now at this point." (x)

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Ricky Martin has always wanted a big family — and he's more than open about how that might come to even further fruition in the future.

In a new cover interview for Out magazine's new Family Issue, the Latin pop superstar opens up about life at home with husband Jwan Yosef and their children, revealing that they have considered adoption to expand their brood that already includes daughter Lucia, 19 months, plus son Renn, 9 months, and twin boys Matteo and Valentino, who turn 12 this month.

"Many years I dreamt of being a father, and many, many, many times I went through this grieving process of I am gay, I am a closeted gay man, and I'm not going to be able to be a daddy," says Martin, 48.

"Obviously adoption is an option and it's very beautiful, but unfortunately for gay men it's very difficult to adopt in some countries," he adds.

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After reading about a 9-year-old boy in foster care who hoped to be adopted, Bethenny Frankel showed the story (featured on PEOPLE's Instagram in August) to her 10-year-old daughter Bryn.

″The boy's three wishes were 'family, family, family,'″ Frankel tells PEOPLE. ″My daughter is an amazing, beautiful, sweet kid, and she said 'You should adopt him, mama.'″

The story about Jordan from Oklahoma, who spoke with a local TV news outlet, prompted 5,000 adoption submissions from potential parents who saw the broadcast.

″I said, 'I'll look into it,' and I did,″ says Frankel. ″It's a complicated situation and Jordan was in Oklahoma and he had a sibling there and there were other concerns and it did not seem like the right path for him.″

″I had looked into it [adoption] a few years ago because I was looking into adopting a 3-year-old,″ she says. ″I was surprised because it's not that easy to adopt an older kid.″

As for future possibilities, she says, ″I'm not proactive about it. It's not something I'm pursuing, but if the road took me there, I would be open to it.″

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Donald Glover may not be done adding to his brood just yet!

The Atlanta creator, 37, opened up about expanding his family through adoption during a GQ interview with actress Michaela Coel published on Tuesday, sharing that "it might be nice to be get a girl in there" after welcoming his third child — a boy also named Donald — amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

When the I May Destroy You star, 33, made a comment about freezing her eggs "just in case," Glover replied, "That’s great. I feel like it’s gonna become more and more [common]."

"Because I’ve actually had that thing where I’m like, 'Maybe I should just get a vasectomy and just freeze those asset,' " he continued. "Because adopting kids, my family adopting kids ... And we actually have been talking about [it], because we have three boys so I’m like, 'Oh, it might be nice to be get a girl in there.' "

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Sia first confirmed that she welcomed two sons into her family last year during a May interview with SiriusXM's The Morning Mash Up, sharing that she adopted the teenage boys when they were leaving foster care due to their age.

"I actually adopted two sons last year. They were both 18 — they're both 19 years old now," she revealed. "They were aging out of the foster-care system. Yeah, and I love them." (x)

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Holly Durst and Blake Julian are opening up about their journey to welcoming their first child.

The couple, who met on The Bachelor spin-off show Bachelor Pad and married in 2012, recently welcomed a daughter through adoption named Poppy Marie after seven years of infertility struggles.

“Poppy is incredible!” Durst tells PEOPLE. “I cannot imagine anyone else in our lives. She is everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more. I cry happy tears all the time because I feel so lucky that I get to be her mom!”

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Kristen Davis told the mother-daughter duo that her decision to adopt a second black child, her son, came at least in part due to a request from her daughter, who started asking for a baby sibling at the age of 5.

“She said, ‘Mommy, I would really love a black little brother.’ And I was like, ‘I totally understand, baby,’ ” she recalled. “And then one day, there he was. And I tell you, my daughter didn’t bat an eye. She was like, ‘There he is.’ So beautiful. And then she held him and fed him. She’s just the best big sister.”

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Home renovation expert Jonathan Scott wants to start having kids before he’s 45—whether he’s in a relationship or not.

An attribute that Jonathan requires in a potential partner? The desire to have a family. “I want to be a dad, so it’s important for me to have a partner who would play a key role in that,” he says. “When we film our shows I get along so great with the kids, and I like the idea that I can use what I believe to be good to shape the mind of a little human. I have said to myself that if I don’t find the right person I think I would probably adopt on my own, because I think I would be a great dad.”

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As a soon-to-be mom of three, Jen Lilley has a lot to celebrate these days.

The pregnant Hallmark Channel star, 34, and her husband Jason Waynethrew a big bash to celebrate their 3-year-old son Kayden’s official adoption on June 10, sharing exclusive photos with PEOPLE from the exciting event.

“We also got him adoption-day presents and will continue to celebrate June 10 every year,” says Lilley. “It was a particularly touching date for me, because June 10 is my parents’ wedding anniversary, and they got the best present ever for their 41st!”

Of the “long-awaited and monumental” adoption itself, the Days of Our Lives actress admits she “almost lost it” at the moment when Kayden was legally named a member of their family.

“During the hearing, when the judge said Kayden was declared to be our legal ‘child, and is further said to be a member of the Wayne family with all the rights and responsibilities attached thereto,’ I almost lost it,” Lilley recalls. “All I could manage was a little half giggle/half sob, saying, ‘Thank you.’ 

“I’m really hoping Jason and I can explain to Kayden and any other child we’re lucky enough to adopt how much we love them, and give them a positive perspective of adoption,” she says. “We know once children understand they’re adopted, they often go through a grieving process for the birth family they’ve lost even if they lost that family in infancy, but we’re hoping we can not only walk through that process with them and comfort them but help them view adoption as an addition, not a subtraction.”

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In a candid interview with ABC News, Bryan opened up about the death of his brother, Chris, who died in a car accident in 2000 and the sudden death of his sister, Kelly, seven years later.

“Just when we started picking up the pieces with my brother, then my sister — we lose my sister,” he told Robin Roberts. “I’ve watched my family go through ebbs and flows where we get mad at God and we get mad at why this happened.”

In 2014, Kelly’s widower, Ben Cheshire, died. And Bryan, along with his wife Caroline, decided to take in the couple‘s three children: son Til, now 15, and college-aged daughters Jordan and Kris.

“We never thought twice about it,” Caroline told Roberts of her and Bryan’s decision. “You know, it was never something that he and I had to sit down and talk about. ‘Should we take this on?’ We just did that.”

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After the Law and Order: SVU star gave birth to their son August Miklos Friedrich in June 2006, the couple opted to adopt their next two children. They first welcomed now-8-year-old daughter Amaya Josephine in 2011 and then, four months later, son Andrew Nicolas to their family after his birth that summer.