Shades of Love: A Black Couple’s Journey in Adopting Three Beautiful White Children

Sadie and Jarvis Sampson pursued various avenues to conceive for years, exhausting every option until they finally accepted the possibility of remaining aunt and uncle figures. However, a single text message unexpectedly transformed their lives overnight.

Since their marriage in January 2018, the couple had been striving to conceive. When natural conception proved elusive, they explored every available alternative.

“Ovulation tests, prenatal vitamins, cycle tracking apps, fertility monitors,” the Houston mom told. “We even tried the unsolicited advice of friends, family, and strangers and didn’t try. For 14 months, we tried, prayed, and waited. Month after month. Negative pregnancy test after negative test. It seemed like we were going to need assistance to conceive. We even went as far as to talk to doctors about it.”

The medical professionals offered little assistance to the couple, advising Sadie solely to lose weight as a means to conceive. With no other guidance, Sadie opted for gastric surgery, shedding 28 pounds.

Her OBGYN expressed joy at Sadie’s weight loss, conveying pride in her accomplishment. “She mentioned that if I didn’t conceive within six months, she’d refer me to a fertility specialist since she couldn’t prescribe fertility medication,” Sadie recounted. “I was ecstatic. Finally, it wasn’t just a ‘no.’ We received a ‘not right now,’ and we were elated.”

Unfortunately, despite Sadie’s weight loss efforts, the couple didn’t achieve pregnancy as they had hoped. They found themselves feeling as if they were back at square one.

“I had always felt like I was born to be a mother,” Sadie shared. “My surgeon had taken so much time to warn me about how fertile I would be after surgery, but I still wasn’t pregnant. So, we gave up. We realized that we were only destined to be an aunt and uncle to our nieces, and godparents to our goddaughters.”

At the moment when the couple had resolved to relinquish their heart-wrenching attempts to conceive, Sadie received a text from her friend. The message asked if they would contemplate fostering a baby that a couple her friend knew were considering for adoption.

Initially hesitant, the couple grappled with the idea, especially when a caseworker informed them that they were asked to care for the baby temporarily while the mother sought treatment. Concerns about becoming too attached to the baby weighed heavily on their minds. However, the situation took a surprising turn when the caseworker relayed a change in the birth mother’s decision.

“The birth mom has chosen you both to adopt the child instead,” the caseworker revealed.

“‘Holy crap!!,’ I said aloud,” Sadie recalled of the moment she found out she was going to be a mom.

“We went from not having any children, to the possibility of fostering one, to, ‘You guys are parents!,’ overnight. I listened to the caseworker, still in disbelief, as she spoke. I hung up and immediately called my husband! ‘Babe!! They want us to adopt the baby! They want us to be parents,’ I screamed. ‘Wait! REALLY?! I thought they just wanted us to foster him!,’ he said. ‘Nope! They want us to be his mom and dad,’ I said.”

The couple spent the weekend absorbing the shocking news while also preparing themselves just in case the birth mother changed her mind.

Monday arrived, and the couple received not only confirmation that the birth mother still wanted them to adopt the baby, but also that she wished to proceed with an independent adoption and was ready to sign the necessary documents that day.

Their baby boy had been born at 33 weeks, seven weeks early. He was 4 lbs., 5 oz. “He literally fit in one of my husband’s hands,”

“He was so tiny, wrapped snugly in a white blanket adorned with pink and blue stripes,” Sadie recounted. “He had an NG tube coming out of his nose because he couldn’t feed on his own, being premature. But goodness, was he adorable!!!”

The couple shared their news on social media and were encouraged to create a registry. They compiled a list of 72 items, and within just three days, 55 had already been purchased for them.

The adoption of Ezra Lee was completed in October 2020, and the couple celebrated with heartwarming family photos, all wearing t-shirts bearing the message, “families don’t have to match.”

In 2021, Sadie and Jarvis welcomed twin girls, Journee and Destinee, into their family through embryo donation. Embracing their family motto, “Families don’t have to match,” the Black couple expanded their family to include three white children—a boy and two girls.