Maxine and Jake Young always wanted a large family. The couple, who married in 2016, was open to having their own children but also taking in children in need of a home, which is where their parenting journey began.
Five years ago, while trying for their own baby, they also went through the process and became foster parents. Just one month after finishing their training, they received a phone call that there were a group of siblings in need of a foster home. Three kids, all under the age of five.
Four-year-old, Aiden.
Two-year-old, Parker.
11-month-old, Connor.
Maxine and Jake didn’t hesitate and opened their hearts and home to the siblings. Just a few weeks later, they received another phone call – the siblings had a newborn sister, Elliot, also in need of care.
Maxine and Jake picked her up and began foster parents to four children under five.
‘It was chaos. We went from zero to five within less than a year.’
While there were plenty of challenges along the way, the good far outweighed the bad. As Maxine shares on her Instagram,
We dove in head first, without knowing how to swim. It felt like all we did was tread water for the first few months. Slowly, very slowly we began to learn one another, we got into a rhythm of things and it became second nature.
Life was normal, or as normal as having 4 children in foster care could be. We had melted into a unit, we had become a family.”
Each child had their own trauma to overcome and various needs, but one of the biggest struggles for Maxine and Jake was infertility. Maxine experienced multiple miscarriages and chemical pregnancies.
Getting pregnant was not easy for us. Staying pregnant was even more difficult. After every loss my heart was left a little more broken then it was before.”
The couple turned to IVF and then an IUI to help them conceive.
In October 2018, they were blessed with their son, Henry.
Henry completed their beautiful family and, although hectic, it was also magic. Maxine and Jake knew that their four foster children were part of their family and adopted them in December 2019.
Just a few weeks later, Maxine realised she was pregnant again, this time without using IVF.
I didn’t even think that I could get pregnant without doing IVF or IUI, which we had to do with our son. I remember texting [my husband] and was like, “Oh my God.”Â
Not one, but quadruplets!
An ultrasound revealed they wouldn’t just be adding one baby to the family, but four. Just three years after welcoming their first lot of four children, Maxine and Jake would be doing it again. This time, however, there would be four newborns.
At 32 weeks pregnant, Maxine delivered her four miracles – Silas, Theo, Beck and Cecilia. Each weighed between 1.3kg to 1.8kg and remained in the NICU for a few weeks.
However, one by one, the quadruplets got the all-clear to go home and the family of 11, including four newborns.
When Silas, Theo, Beck and Celia were born, their oldest, Aiden, was 7. Parker was five, Connor, four, Elle, three and Henry, two.
Three years, nine children
Maxine shares her incredible parenting journey on her Instagram post and updates her fans often on what’s been happening with their nine children.
There are tons of snaps of matching outfits, holiday adventures and beautiful sibling bonds that make our hearts just melt.
There are also plenty of poetic posts about just how grateful Maxine is to be surrounded by nine amazing children.
There are some days I look around and can’t believe all of these children are mine.
I feel like I blinked and I was a mother of nine.
I mean, it did happen relatively quickly. I became a mother on July 28th 2017 and on July 31st 2020, a mother of nine.
Three years, nine kids. It’s beyond what I could have ever imagined.
Even in the hard moments (& right now there are a decent amount of tough days)I remember how amazing all of this is, how lucky we are.”Â
Maxine is also very open about her infertility struggles as well as her decision to adopt.
‘Please give me just one baby’
There is no right or wrong pathway to parenthood but, when you are struggling with infertility, it can seem like you may never get there.
As Maxine writes, before she was blessed with that first phone call, before she was told about three siblings (with another on the way) that needed a home, before she had Henry, and before the surprise quadruplets, she didn’t think she would ever get a chance to become a mother.
In those dark moments I couldn’t see the light. I wish I could have told myself it would all be ok.
Looking back on it all now, I never in a million years could have imagined that this would be my life. I remember the feelings like they were yesterday. I wanted just one. Please, give me just one baby. I promise I’ll be happy with just one.
If you are waiting, don’t lose hope. Your baby is out there, whether it be through adoption, foster care, surrogacy, fertility treatments or a miracle. You will be a mother.”
You can follow this gorgeous family on Instagram or YouTube.
