Woman adopts baby of husband’s deceased ex-wife to prevent him from growing up in foster care

A woman made the monumental decision to legally adopt a baby – to prevent him from growing up in foster care like she did.

Christie Werts, 48, from Ohio, met her husband Wesley, 45, five years ago. They seamlessly blended their two families – including Christie’s children Megan, 21, and Vance, 15, and Wesley’s two children, Austin, 14, and Dakota, 10.

Wesley had separated from his ex-wife and the mother of his two children in 2015. One day, Christie and Wesley received the heartbreaking news that she passed away shortly after giving birth to her child, who was born prematurely at 33 weeks.

She died after years of drug addiction and complications of COVID-19. She had given birth to Levi on a Monday and passed away on Friday.

Though the child was not related to Wesley, he and Christie decided to welcome the newborn into their family.

Christie had been in foster care since age 15 and stated, “I myself was a foster kid and, although for the most part I had a great experience, I did not want him going to foster care.”

Christie and Wesley had to foster Levi before they could legally adopt the baby. So, they sold their home in Ohio and rented a home in Texas. The whole adoption process took 16 months.

Naturally, Christie had reservations over legally adopting the baby. She had quickly bonded with her stepchildren so she was worried about taking in a child that she never met and the circumstances that might hinder their relationship. 

But she said, “He stole my heart. I also felt this intense need to protect him.”

Levi, who is now almost two years old, became an official member of the family in January 2023. Christie shared, “On paper, he was a child with no first name, no birth certificate, and was a ward of the state. Just to know he would have a birth certificate [and] a legal first name was very emotional.”

Christie also felt that legally adopting the baby was part of God’s plan. Before the family even knew of Levi’s birth, Christie had a recurring dream about a blue-eyed, blonde-haired boy.

She said, “Before Levi, we had wanted to try to have a child of our own. I’m in my forties, so we knew that we would probably need fertility treatment, so I thought let’s just think about it and what will be will be.”

And now they have Levi.

Christie also understands that adopting her husband’s ex-wife’s baby may seem unusual, but she said that at the time, it just made sense. The time was right, and so they did not think twice about legally adopting the baby.

Now the whole family is enjoying life going back to normal after legally adopting the new baby in the family. There are no more case workers or inspections, and the children and are just enjoying sports and having fun with friends.

Christie provided sound advice based on her experience in foster care and legally adopting a baby, saying “’You must have that desire for a child [but] a desire to want, love and care for a child at any age has to be just as important as helping a child. Take each day at a time because the system is not perfect.”

After a long and arduous journey, Levi is now safe and sound with his forever family.

The family have also shared some clips of their adoption journey on Instagram and TikTok, (@cjthemom5). One particularly video showed Levi as a baby in an incubator after his premature birth, which Christie captioned: “I wasn’t sure if I would be able to bond adopting my husband’s ex-wife’s baby.” Watch the touching video below:

@cjthemom5

A little long, I stink at edits. But emotional to make. #adoption #adoptionstory #storytime #loveyou #foryou #fyp #bonding

♬ Dream Away – Ramol