‘Couldn’t let them go’: Couple’s foster journey leads to unexpected adoption

CHARLOTTE — November is National Adoption Month, and one couple opened their home to Channel 9 to share their story with adoption.

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Several years ago, parents Kelly Young and Melissa Blankenship decided to foster.

“We thought we’re going to foster,” Young said. “We’re going to give these kids a safe home, temporary safe home, and then they will be reunited.”

Reunited, they thought, with the children’s biological families. But that’s not how this story goes.

They had prepared to take in older children but got a call about fostering then 3-month-old Lylith and 15-month-old Xander, who are brother and sister.

“They gave us five minutes to make our final decision, and we made it, and they showed up a few hours later. And it took a village to get our house prepared for two infants to come into,” Young shared.

“Our neighbor was putting a crib together that night,” said Blankenship.

Almost as soon as they took the children in, Lylith was admitted to the hospital with several infections. They nursed both children to better health. A year later, with reunification looking unlikely, they began the adoption process.

“We just couldn’t let them go,” Young said.

Lylith is now 7. Xander is 8. And Oliver, who Young carried herself, is now 5. And that’s not all, Kelly became a surrogate for another family -- delivering a baby last august.

It was a decision made in part, for their own children.

“It was good for them to know their story. Like, OK, you were carried by someone else, but now look who your parents are,” said Young.

For anyone considering fostering or adoption, the couple has a clear message.

“Go all in. Don’t be scared, it’s gonna be scary. You have no idea, you know what might be coming into your home, but it’s so rewarding,” Young said.

“You’re changing their lives,” said Blankenship, “And now you’re part of their story and you get to be a part of their story forever.”

Kelly and Melissa worked with the Children’s Home Society of North Carolina through their fostering and adoption process, and still work with their social worker.

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