I’m 24 and have a 16-year-old daughter, it sounds confusing, but makes perfect sense to us
A 24-YEAR-OLD woman has revealed that she is the mother of a 16-year-old, as well as three other children.
Tasia Taylor, and her husband Drew, 26 are parents to Tamiray, 16, Rory, 14, 12, and Ashtyn Rose, two months.
Although this may seem impossible, as Tasia is just eight years older than her youngest child, there is a simple explanation.
Soon after Tasia and Drew got married, they began looking into foster care.
They were initially looking to foster children between one and six, but ended up being paired with 14-year old Rory, who happened to be a student in Tasia’s class at school.
“We didn’t know that they would even let us take a teenager”, she said on an episode of Truly’s My Extraordinary Family
The foster placement was originally meant to be temporary, but the couple later received a phone call stating that Rory’s brother urgently needed somewhere to stay.
Therefore, they decided to take in the 12-year-old as well and adopted both children.
Tasia’s cousin, Tamiray, had been being raised by her grandmother.
However, Tasia revealed that sadly, her grandmother is no seriously unwell with cancer.
Therefore the couple decided to adopt her as well, meaning that Tasia is now legally Tamiray’s mother, despite only being eight years younger than her.
Tasia said: “We were just going to pursue legal guardianship [with Tamiray] but after we adopted the two kids it was really important to Tay that she was adopted.
“We actually just adopted her a few weeks ago.”
The couple also have a biological child, baby Ashtyn Rose, making them a family of six.
“We went from zero to four in less than two years….we were a little overwhelmed,” said Drew.
How does adoption work?
In the UK, there is lengthy process involved with adopting a child and it can take up to six months for the paperwork to be finalised.
To even be considered, you have to meet the following criteria:
- You must be over 21
- You must be a legal resident of the UK for at least 12 months.
- No criminal convictions – especially any related to the endangerment of children. This applies to everyone your household.
You will also have to go through an inital background check and assesment, which will consider whether you are the right fit for adoption.
Potenital parents will also have undergo training and a process to match them with the right child.
Unfortunately, not everyone has been supportive of the family.
Tasia shared an insight into her life as a new mother on TikTok, to raise awareness about fostering and adopting.
However, the post was flooded with comments, suggesting that she and Drew were “too young” to be raising their children.
She said: ““It’s not really about the age…I think that we are really mature for our age,” she explained.
“The worst comments that we’ve gotten have been from people assuming that Drew is ‘gross’ or doing things with our kids.
“It makes me so deeply upset to even hear that…it also makes me wonder where their heart is?”
However, Tasia and her family don’t let the trolls get to them, and are very happy together.
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