"We just knew we had a calling to them," said Jacob Smith. He and his wife are now first time parents to four children.
Nine siblings were adopted together, all thanks to a Florida father and son, who were both willing to grow their two separate families through adoption.
It all started with a Facebook post about a group of eight children between the ages of months old to 14 years old in need of a home.
"I thought, 'Man, if I had the financial means to do this, we would definitely do it," said Jacob Smith, a full-time college student. "Literally the next day, my mom calls me and she's like, 'So, are you serious about the kids?'"
Turns out, his dad Thad Smith also saw the Facebook post, and discussed adopting the children with his wife, Loryn.
"I think we're called to a deeper purpose than coming home, and closing our doors," Thad told Caters News.
After careful deliberation, Jacob and his wife Peggy, who have no children of their own, decided they would adopt the three younger siblings, and Thad and Loryn would adopt the five older ones.
They explained this decision made sense to them because they lived only a few houses down from each other and wanted to keep the big sibling group together while sharing the burden.
"We just knew we had a calling to them," Jacob said.
Just when they thought they would have a big enough adjustment to their new lives, Jacob and Peggy got a call that the siblings' mom just had a baby, meaning that the team of siblings was now nine strong.
"So that's when the ninth child came in," Peggy said. "Oh my word! Okay God, I guess we're going to have a baby. He's been a dream. He's been really fun to have."
The family is now raising money through the Promise Love Foundation to buy two new cars to drive their new children around.
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