A woman who was once a foster child has adopted the baby of her husband’s late ex-wife, an act of love to prevent the child from going into the foster system. She says, as if it was a sign from God, she often dreamed of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby even before they learned about the child.
California-born Christie Werts, 48, married Wesley Werts, 45, in 2018. Both have children from their previous marriages: Mrs. Werts’s 15-year-old son, Vance, and 21-year-old daughter, Megan; and Mr. Werts’s son, Austin, 14, and daughter, Dakota, 10. In January this year, after a process that took 16 months to complete, they adopted baby Levi—one of the children of Mr. Werts’s ex-wife, a child who had unfortunately been exposed to drugs in his mother’s womb.
Today, the couple’s blended family lives together in Ohio.
“Personally, because I believe in God, I felt like it was kind of God’s plan from the dreams, preparing me,” Mrs. Werts told The Epoch Times. “I’ve always known that God is real and that He works in our lives. But when you witness something that you have dreams [of], that God put in your heart, and then it turns into reality, I think my faith got even stronger.
‘We Should Take Him’
Mr. Werts’s ex-wife had struggled with drug addiction, leading to him winning custody of Austin and Dakota. The couple divorced in 2015. “She had a total of six kids,” Mrs. Werts said. “Two with my husband, then the rest each had a different father.”
But then in 2021, the couple found out Mr. Werts’s ex-wife was expecting again and 33 weeks pregnant; her sister had called them from hospital because the expectant mom was still doing drugs and very sick due to COVID-19. There was no one to take care of the baby.
“I told my husband, ‘We should take him,’” Mrs. Werts said. “We didn’t know race, we didn’t know gender, we didn’t know anything—I just knew we wanted to take this baby. I just knew that I felt like he could be with brothers and sisters instead of going into the system. We were already in love with this child.
“It was a very hard time, even as a woman, to know that this biological mother had this struggle [with addiction]. She was the one that was in my prayers more than anybody. ... and we were trying to figure out a way to be there for this baby.”
Baby Levi was born on Aug. 23, 2021, after his mother was induced at 33 weeks. She passed away four days later from a stroke resulting from a blood clot.
The Ohio Baby
The Wertses reached out to Child Protective Services, who told them Levi could not leave the state of Texas because he still had a biological father. If the couple wanted to keep the baby out of care, they would have to move to Texas and become foster parents.Levi’s birth mom’s sister was the first to visit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), from where she sent the Wertses videos. Mrs. Werts flew to Texas a few days before Levi was released from the hospital. A case worker told her that the baby had had some withdrawal symptoms from drug exposure during his first week, but they “weren’t super severe.”
“He wasn’t on any kind of breathing apparatus, just a feeding tube,” Mrs. Werts said. “He was only 4 pounds, 9 ounces when he was born. I was just really shocked at how tiny he was ... it was the moment that finally I got to hold him and just look at him that I kind of broke down.”
Levi had been known as “the Ohio baby” in the NICU, since Mrs. Werts was listed as his caretaker, and his birth mom had not given him a name. She had, however, listed his surname as “Werts,” even though she had never taken her ex-husband’s name.
Mrs. Werts said: “I feel like she knew she might not make it, and so if she put ‘Werts’ down, maybe this would be a sign for my husband to take the baby.”
The Wertses sold their home in Ohio, and Mrs. Werts, who works in information technology, moved with the couple’s three youngest kids to Texas. Mr. Werts had to work out of state as a crane operator, so his wife worked extra hard to help their children adjust to the move.
The family then began the painstaking process of registering as “foster to adopt” parents, including 60 hours of classes, home checks, and house modifications, all while hoping nothing would complicate the process.
“We could not adopt him until the [biological] dad’s rights were terminated,” said Mrs. Werts. “We were taking that risk of moving, knowing there was a possibility that the [biological] dad could get rights, or another family member could come forward, and they could pass the background [check] ... at the back of our minds, we were already in love with this child.”
Mrs. Werts also feared that her own history as a foster child would hinder her chances. “Are they going to look at me and say, ‘Oh, she’s probably got issues because she was a foster kid?’” she said, adding, “But as I went through the process and learned they just want somebody safe, and to love ... if anything, it worked in my advantage.”
Thriving
“I think Levi has been a piece of our family that’s brought us even closer,” said Mrs. Werts, who is also the adoptive mom to Austin and Dakota. “I don’t feel like a hero, I did what was right; I love my step-kids, it just made sense. I listened to God. ... Funnily enough, he looks just like me! Nobody thinks he’s not mine.”
Baby Levi began to thrive in the home of his adoptive family, who kept a close eye on his development for any effects that may have come from drug exposure.
Today, the Wertses live on a huge farm with horses, ducks, and chickens. Levi is “really close” to his siblings and has no interest in devices, unlike many toddlers his age.
“He just wants to go outside and play,” his mom said. “He’s probably smarter than the other ones were at this age because he’s got bigger kids around him all the time. ... he can say all of his A-B-Cs, he’s learning colors; it’s just really neat to watch his brain articulate things.”
Watching Levi “living his best life” playing with her husband one day, Mrs. Werts decided to share her family’s unique adoption story on social media.
“I thought if people knew our story, it would really surprise them,” she said. “Our story is about family, and doing what’s right for children.
“I hope there could be programs in the future to help women that have addiction when they’re pregnant ... really just showing compassion and making choices that are the right choices, even if it means work.”
The Wertses plan on telling Levi about his birth mom and adoption as soon as he is old enough to understand that he was loved from the very beginning, with his half-siblings, Austin and Dakota, by his side.
