The couple planned to take one baby. And now they are raising eight sons.
Melissa and Scott Groves from the American state of Nebraska met when they were a little over 20. A stormy romance, six months later – the engagement, six months later the young people got married. Melissa already had a daughter, whom she gave birth to very early – at the age of 17. Little Otemn was already four years old. The couple did not plan to stop at one child, but were going to expand the family in the near future. But … nothing worked. Moreover, the doctors told Melissa that the likelihood of conception is minimal. Despite all the therapy.
But Melissa and Scott did not give up their dream of a big family. They decided to adopt a child. They took a ten-week training course for adoptive parents.
“It was not easy. So much red tape … We have asked ourselves more than once whether it is worth the effort. But still we managed to get trained “, – Melissa to reporters.
As a result, the couple received a license – yes, in the United States, in order to adopt a child, you need to have the appropriate qualifications. They just won’t give it up. And pretty soon, the future adoptive parents met two boys given up for adoption: three-year-old Noah and one and a half-year-old Chase.
The boys were brothers. Therefore, Melissa and Scott decided not to separate them, and to take both of them.
“They conquered us at first sight. As soon as I saw them, I realized that I no longer want to part with them. Fate, divine intervention – call it what you want, but at first glance we said yes to our kids, ”Melissa recalls.
The Groves now had three children. It seems to be enough. But just a few weeks later, a call from the guardianship service rang at their house. It turned out that Noah and Chase had another brother, Garrett.
“How could I deny my sons the right to be near their newborn brother?” Melissa wondered. However, she hardly imagined what would happen next.
Less than a year after Garrett’s adoption, the Groves got another call. And they offered to adopt another boy, another brother of their sons. Hayden was born prematurely with a diagnosis of cleft palate.
“But he was the brother of our boys! Of course we agreed, ”Melissa shrugs.
Five children is more than enough. And the neighbors began to look askance at the rapidly growing family. It was rumored that Melissa was a little crazy about adoption. But the Groves didn’t care, they were happy. Therefore, when the biological mother of their sons gave birth to two more, Scott and Melissa immediately took them away. Ashton and Curran have become part of not just a big, but a huge family.
“Life went on as usual, the boys got used to each other and their new home very quickly,” says Melissa.
It was 2009. The children grew up, Melissa and Scott could not get enough of their boyfriends. And then came 2013. Melissa has already received a direct call from the same woman, the biological mother of the Groves’ seven adopted children. She was pregnant again and wondered if the hospitable family would take another boy.
“Nobody would have condemned us if we had refused. After all, we could say that we do not have enough money, time, etc. But everything turned out well. And in October 2013 we ended up in the hospital awaiting the birth of our eighth son, Zane, ”says Melissa.
Scott and his wife knew that Zane had Down syndrome. The fact is that the mother of their children was a drug addict. And happiness is that all the other children were born healthy. However, Melissa knows from herself what it is like to be a person with disabilities. She lost her leg in 2015. But not optimism.
“Zane teaches us patience and unconditional love every day. I can no longer imagine my life without him, – say the parents. – At first, adoption was just a way for us to become a full-fledged family. But we never imagined that children would bring us so much love and so much happiness. “
PS And they also have two dogs. That is already three.