Parents of 5 grown up kids adopt 7 young siblings - thoughts?

[leasedaudi2]

Has anybody come across this lady before? She's on Instagram as @Second.chance.seven

I'm amazed that they have the energy and determination to raise 7 troubled kids- they're certainly really selfless people.

My first question is - HOW can they afford it? It looks like the kids go to private school (uniforms in the USA seems to be only for private school). I think both parents still work, but I don't think they are in top earning jobs.

Secondly- not sure if sharing the kids details on Instagram is really a good idea. Their names and faces are posted regularly and I hope this isn't about getting fame / company endorsements / insta ads.

Oh their handle is @second.chance.7

Had a quick look. On the surface it all looks a little idealised - but I suppose that’s the same with lots of things on Instagram.

It does worry me when people share a lot of details about children online, particularly young children who can’t consent or understand the implications of their details being shared. However again I think a lot of people do that on Instagram.

I’m always a little cynical when people over share things like this, but hopefully all is as it seems.

Are they a sibling group or have they just collected 7 kids??
I think anyone who has adopted 7 kids doesn't really understand what adopted kids require. I can see it more if they are a sibling group though it's a massively tall order for any adopters to take on that many children and meet all their needs, but I agree they 100% should not be on social media.

What a lovely thing to do
I am always more impressed though if people do lovely things without shouting about it on SM

@MazekeenSmith I would hope they are a sibling group.

I mean surely it would just be easier to ask her by pm rather than start a thread about a fellow poster and her life choices??

Apologies, I misunderstood and thought she was on here. Sorry.

I'm not a big fan of using your kids ( be that adopted, biological or blended) as pawns on social media however it is a thing that alot do. So long as there providing a safe and loving home for the kids the I cant get too worked up about the Instagram account.
Also in the states religious schools often wear uniforms so not necessarily in private school.

In such cases the children often come with significant income from social security. It wouldn't cover private school fees, but parochial schools have uniforms and often charge very modest fees.

I am not comfortable with adoptive parents who live their family life on social media. It reminds me too much of the Hart family (if you haven't heard of them there is an astonishing podcast about them).

She's an attorney and he's an Navy-Vet who already owned a 6 bed house so I don't think they're badly off even without the Insta endorsements. Better than them being split up

I read an article about them last week. I think they have done a great thing. Some of the kids are nearly adults anyway (from what I remember).
As for putting them on instagram - many people do that with kids. If it's in the hope of getting freebies to make life easier for them - then good luck to them. I don't think that would happen in the UK as the LA who place kids here are very careful to ensure children are protected.

If you scroll down to the very first post it explains they are a sibling set whose parents had died in a car accident.

I expect finding a adoptive or foster able to take 7 would be a massive challenge. What a lovely thing for this family to do

I would feel completely different if they collected 7 children but it is different to take on a sib set. The thought of them being split up after a traumatic life and then the loss of both parents is too awful to contemplate.

well, I think it is amazing.

7 kids, parents killed in a car accident.
Just imagine for a moment if that was you and your siblings. Imagine being split up and parcelled off. imagine being 15/16/17 and suddenly having no home, parents/base.

What a generous thing to do, to offer them all a home, together.

I don't like Instagram, especially for adopted kids, but it is a small price to pay for the exchange of given the family a home.

I think it’s a good thing they have done and have no problem with it being on Instagram if that’s what they are doing. It’s no different from any other family using social media.

From what I read, the parents died, so the children have been adopted through lack of additional family able to care for them rather than needing to be due to various reasons that would require privacy.
Several are late teens so I’m sure they would have been asked first.

It’s a balance I’m sure between privacy and sharing their story to encourage others to maybe consider taking of sibling groups themselves. I only have one child, but I imagine taking on suddenly 3/4/6 children would be a huge undertaking that many people ( prob me included) wouldn’t be able to take on.

The adoption system in the USA is slightly different too, in circumstances such as this they may receive some funding from the state because these kids needed to be kept together.

I think it's amazing that they have done this but uncomfortable with monetarising through social media

How can they afford it and why are they posting on Instagram. Think you may have answered your first question with your second.

For me they can do what the heck they like. How incredible that they did this and how amazing that seven siblings, who have been through unbelievable trauma, are now able to grow up together. They are my takeaway thoughts.

I've just his a look on their Insta. There Def feels a vibe of how much better their lives are now than with their biological parents. Bios on the 5 youngest, all the boys mention they have FAS, one of the girls have ADD and anxiety from their "life before" but vague on with parents or foster care etc. Their VERY FIRST pumpkin pick(!!!) etc. But they are clearly a family who will do their Christian best by them and that's to be admired

@SleepingStandingUp yes I just looked through some more pics and read something apparently written by the 15 year old - “I don’t mind my parents passing away, in fact it was a relief to me”. Seems like more than just loosing parents in a car accident.

Dunno, something about the pics and posts don’t sit right with me. It’s all much too Idealic to feel believable. I’m massively cynics though so always come at things from a slightly negative slant.

Wow! Full respect to them however they manage it!

I don’t think it’s good to plaster your kids all over social media either but kudos to them, I think it’s so great for the kids that someone was able to adopt all of them without splitting them up, which wouldn’t have helped the huge trauma it sounds like they have been through. I hadn’t heard of them before but just scrolled through the feed a bit and it sounds like both biological parents came from broken homes/the care system themselves and struggled with addiction.
I googled the school and it is apparently a charter school which I think is like the American equivalent of an academy, and they have uniforms.

I think it's a wonderful thing to do. I think we see so much negativity in the news now that it's hard to grasp that sometimes people do kind things to be kind. I hope they prove me right.

They had 5 kids already but they had left home by this point so they should have plenty of space in their 6 bedroom house.

It's fine for people to post about their children on Instagram but it makes me really uncomfortable when people document the lives and traumas of fostered or adopted children. It seems to be done an awful lot in the US and absolutely is not of any benefit to the children but is clearly for the parents to get the recognition they're after for their 'good deed'.