Virginia Family with 6 Adopted Children Wants More: ‘Giving Them a Chance’

A Virginia family that has been blessed with six adopted children is looking to grow even more.

In 2005, Doug and Sarah Miller of Fredericksburg were told they could not have a biological child. This prompted the couple to look into adoption despite Doug’s initial hesitations, according to WTVR.

“Doug wasn’t so sure about it,” Sarah told the outlet. “So I put pictures of kids from ‘Adopt US Kids’ all over the house, and put signs on them that said, ‘Would you be my dad?’ Eventually, he said, ‘OK, fine. I’ll go to training with you.'”

From then on, the Millers — who are now in their 40s — have adopted six children, are fostering five more, and have since been able to have their own three-year-old son. They have no plans to slow down, as they want to continue adopting children into their 60s.

The Millers say they have fostered over 30 children, and the five they are currently fostering could be adopted as well.

The family has adjusted their finances to accommodate everyone living in their home, including living more modestly. However, finances do not necessarily have to be a deterrent, especially if a family is adopting from the foster care system.

“As far as finances, I think people get scared that adoption’s really expensive, but when you adopt from foster care, you don’t pay any expenses for that and usually the child will come with Medicaid so that you can meet their needs, for their medical part of it,” Sarah said. “And some kids keep what’s called an adoption stipend to help you continue, based on their needs.”

As the Millers plan to add more to their house, they do not view their parenthood as a burden but rather as an opportunity to bless their children.

“I really feel that this is a calling from God; this is what I’m supposed to be doing with my life,” Doug wolf WTVR. “You know, we take kids who probably didn’t have a chance at life, and we’re giving them a chance at a normal life, a chance to succeed.”

According to the Adoption Network, there are currently 107,918 foster children eligible for adoption in the U.S, and over 400,000 children in foster care who are up for adoption. Furthermore, over 60 percent of children spend two to five years in the foster care system before being adopted. November is also noted to be National Adoption Month.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.