They got married in 2016 and thought they couldn't have children.
Maxine Young and her husband Jacob Young live in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and in a series of fate events they have had nine children in a span of just four years.
They got married in 2016 and the only thing they were sure of was that they wanted a family. The idea of adopting was Maxine's longing since she was a child, and she discussed it with Jake, and he too was excited about the idea.
They planned to be two children, and with that, they would be fine, however, fate went further. In 2017 they started the adoption process and three little siblings had problems being adopted together, the Youngs thought it was a good idea and they accepted them immediately.
While caring for the three siblings, the couple received another call asking if they would be willing to adopt the children's little sister (Elliot) since she had just been born, and her biological mother was not able to care for her. They felt a responsibility to keep the brothers together, and they said yes.
“We said yes to his little sister and it was one of the best yes of my life,” Maxine Young told the Newsweek portal. “Elliot and I are so close. I laugh with Jake that she is my true soul mate.”
They had previously done two rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF) but they were unsuccessful and Maxine had two miscarriages, so they tried intrauterine insemination (IUI), and in that process, they had their first biological child, Henry, who was born in October 2018.
With five children his family was already complete, but the big surprise would come soon to turn his world upside down.
“I didn't think I could get pregnant without having IVF or IUI. So when I took a pregnancy test in January this year, I was very surprised to see a positive result.
“At first I was excited, but that quickly turned to nervousness,” she said. “ The doctors made it seem like it would be impossible to have four healthy babies and they wanted us to reduce the number. Once we accepted that it would be risky, we felt the joy return. Our four babies were healthy. I'm so glad we followed our instincts, ”Maxine said on Good Morning America.
She is a full-time stay-at-home mom, with nine children it would be difficult for it to be otherwise. Jake works in the oil and gas industry, although he maintains flexible hours.
When the quadruplets arrived home they were surrounded by relatives who helped them with the nine little ones for the first weeks but soon they wanted to take care of everything.
Older children were supposed to go to school, however with the pandemic the whole family has stayed home, and older children often help with the babies.
“Jake and I have always said that we feel like we are parents and we want our children to be just children. We don't want a situation where older children take too much care of younger children. So they help out when they want to help and often want to hold the babies, ”said the mother of nine.
The couple explained that they do not make a difference for their five biological children and that they love everyone exactly the same: “We have always explained to children that blood does not form a family, it is who you love. Love makes a family ”.
They have also considered that they thrive on chaos. “The positives of having a large family far outweigh the negatives.”
They know that although they loved to travel or go out, now with nine they will not be able to do it for a long time, in addition to the current coronavirus pandemic.
“Our family works and we cannot imagine having just one or two children now,” Maxine concluded.