Maxine and Jake Young of Pennsylvania knew they were soulmates the day they started dating. And, indeed, they understood they wanted a large family with many children. But did they ever imagine becoming a mother and father to nine children? No, not exactly.
They married in 2016 and began foster care training in early 2017. After finishing it, the Youngs became foster parents to three children ages two, four, and eleven months. Soon later, they welcomed another baby into their house and hearts, this time the sibling of the children they had previously fostered.
Having four children was a dream come true. “Jacob was completely on board and loved having a house filled with lots of love and laughter, maybe a little chaos too!” Jacob’s mother said on GoFundMe.
Maxine and Jacob wanted to have a biological child despite their busy schedules. This wasn’t simply because she had to undergo many treatments, including IVF and IUI, before they welcomed their son Henry into the world in October 2018.
Everyone thought their family was complete, but God knew how wonderful the Youngs were as parents and had other plans for them.
Maxine began to feel peculiar, and her heart told her she was pregnant again. She wasn’t sure because she didn’t think she could conceive naturally, knowing she got her son through IVF, but her intuition was correct.
Things became intriguing at the first doctor’s appointment. “As soon as she (the doctor) began the scan, I noticed a surprised expression on her face.” When you looked at the screen, you could see three pregnancy sacs around the same size, yolk sacs, and even fetal poles.
“Wow, it looks like three babies are growing in there!” she said. I began nervously laughing and was very taken aback, so I asked her if everything looked normal and if the kids measured correctly, which they were, six weeks on the dot. Maxine posted on Instagram, “I had another scan scheduled for the following week.”
But there were four babies instead of three, and they arrived just weeks after Youngs’ foster children were adopted.
“Meeting the babies was an unforgettable experience.” “All of our struggles over the last few months were instantly forgotten; the pain and stress didn’t matter; everything we had been through was worth it,” the happy and proud mother wrote on Facebook.
“Fortunately, they’re all doing well, and we’re very grateful,” says Maxine.
We wish this lovely large family all the best in the coming years. They are all overjoyed to have each other.
