Tasia and Drew Taylor knew they wanted to have kids early and that parenthood while they were still in their early 20s wouldn’t be easy, but when the couple suddenly became mom and dad to two teen girls, they faced a challenge they never imagined.
Despite that, the Dardanelle, Ark., couple, both teachers (Tasia teaches kindergarten; Drew, high school) tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that opening their home and hearts to the teens has been an answer to a prayer.
When the couple first shared the news in April 2022 that they were taking in a 12-year-old foster daughter, nearly everyone around them told them it was a bad idea. After all, they had been married for less than two years, and they weren’t much past their teenage years themselves.
Courtesy Taylor family
“We weren’t trying to do something noble — and we didn’t feel we were ready for it,” says Drew, now 25, of their unexpected dive into parenthood. “But we saw something that needed to happen, and we made it happen.”
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Their journey to becoming a family began when Tasia, now 23, first met Rory, a student at the private school where she was teaching at the time. Rory had bounced around the foster care system from the age of 3 until she was adopted at 5. But after more than seven years, Rory’s adoptive parents decided to return her to foster care.
“They told the school, but they hadn’t told Rory,” says Tasia. “They didn’t want her to know until it was time. When I first heard, it made me so sick I threw up in the bathroom at school.”
Tasia and Drew knew they wanted to give Rory a home. They called the Arkansas Department of Human Services, applied to become foster parents and put their names on her case.
“They told us they didn’t think it would happen because we were so young,” says Tasia, who shares some of their family’s story on herTikTok account. “We were really scared it wouldn’t work out.”
The Taylors with Rory in court Dec. 19, 2022 the day her adoption was finalized.Courtesy Taylor family
That afternoon, after Rory left, “I got in my car, and I’m hyperventilating, crying. I’m like, ‘God, you’re the only one who can do anything. God, someone has to do something,’” Tasia says. “And I pull into the driveway, and Drew comes running out with the phone. He says, ‘It’s DHS.’ And they told us they were bringing her the next day.”
When Rory, now 13, moved in, “it was awesome,” Tasia says. “She fit right in.”
Nine months later, they legally adopted her.
The Taylors with (left) Rory and Tamiray at home in Dardanelle, Ark., on Dec. 25, 2022.Courtesy Taylor family
With the addition of their two girls and, in March, a 12-year-old boy they are currently fostering and hope to adopt, the Taylors have had a crash course in parenting.
Their three-bedroom, 1556 sq-ft. house is a little more crowded, and the couple admit money is tight, but they say they wouldn’t have it any other way: “All three have been searching for family, and I hope they feel like they’ve finally found it,” Drew says of their kids.
The Taylors say they’ve turn to their faith for support as new parents. “We felt God was calling us, and we trusted he would provide along the way,” Tasia says.
But it’s not always easy.
“Sometimes I have to explain, ‘I can’t buy you brand new Lululemon because we have to pay the water bill,’” says Tasia, pointing out that she and Drew are just at the beginning of their careers. “They forget that we’re 23 and 25, and we’re trying our best.”
Tasia says she and Drew are very much on the same page as parents.
“It’s always been part of our relationship to nurture and care for people,” she says. “We make a good team. That’s why we do so well with the kids.”
“I was like, ‘I’ve seen that a time or two. I tried the same thing a few years ago!’” she says. “They don’t get away with anything.”
Tasia and Drew Taylor with Tamiray, Rory and their foster son on Galveston Beach, July 28, 2023.Courtesy Taylor family
And, she says, they’re keeping the door open to the possibility of more surprises: “We aren’t actively pursuing anything, but the Lord’s going to put the kids in our lives that need to be in our lives — and there’s no way we would say no. If we see a need, we want to fill it.”
source: people.com
