When I became a parent for the first time, I had only one thing on my mind: how can I make sure my beloved baby is safe and gets everything she needs?
Therefore it’s unsurprising that I get shocked, sad, and angry when I see or hear of parents mistreating and neglecting their innocent children.
Sure, there can be underlying problems that explain the behavior of some parents, but there is no excuse for a mother or father who risks their newborn child’s life through sheer neglect.
Fortunately, there are some fantastic foster parents out there, who stand up and make themselves count when biological parents give up on their children.
The story of LeAnne and Eric left me in tears and I don’t think anybody could read what their family went through without being touched.
LeAnne and Eric decided to take care of a little boy, Easton Matthew, who suffered from shaken baby syndrome. His biological parents chose not to feed him because they had better things to do, like sleep or go to work.
Thankfully, Eric and LeAnne heard about the case and started on the beginning of a tough, tear-jerking journey that would showcase a beautiful demonstration of unconditional love.
We have been given permission to publish their heartbreaking, remarkable story. I hope you read it to the very end because I promise – it’s worth it!
“The doctor handed over a frail, blue, tiny 2-month-old baby boy weighing just over 7 pounds, and he said, ‘Take him home, love him, and feed him because, in a few days, this could be a different story!’ For the first time in my entire life, I was afraid to take home a baby!
It was a fall day in 1996 when Eric and I, excited to start our forever together, said, ‘I do.’ We settled into our newly renovated home and began planning on having children, 2 kids, to be exact. We had always planned on just 2 kids, and that’s exactly what happened… a beautiful baby boy first, then a beautiful baby girl. By the year 2000, we were a complete, perfect little family enjoying life in the suburbs and living the fairy tale life.
But a few years later, Eric was listening to a radio show called ‘Focus on the Family’ and they were discussing raising children with special needs, and Eric felt in his heart we should have another baby. So in 2005, we had another beautiful baby boy, followed by another beautiful baby girl a little over a year later! Now we were a complete family!
Then the day came when we moved out of the suburbs and into the middle of the country. A smaller home with lots of land for the kids to play and explore. Our home was full and our lives were busy, but our hearts were pulling us to fill a need that was great in our community. Foster care! Caring for children who, by no fault of their own, were removed from everyone and everything they had ever known.
But I was hesitant. My parents had been foster parents for many years, and I knew the toll it took on biological kids. I knew how much time and attention the foster kiddos needed, which in turn, took time away from myself and my siblings, and I could only think about what effect it would have on our kiddos, the very children God had blessed us with.
So for 2 years we discussed, prayed about, and researched foster care. We found there were way more kids in the system then there were foster parents to care for them; and because of the drug epidemic, the number of kids going into care was rising. The need was great, and after talking it over with our children we began the classes. In 2014, we were licensed for Foster to Adopt and the same day our license was finalized, we took in our first placement of 2 kiddos.
Ready or not, we were foster parents.
It was February of 2017, we had had many foster placements by then, and we were considered seasoned foster parents. We had a decent relationship with the caseworkers and supervisors at Children Services, and they knew which kiddos our family fit best with. Not every child and foster family fit well, and for a child to thrive in care, they need to be matched with the right foster family. We were finishing up dinner one night after having just recently surrendered an amazing baby girl who we had loved and cared for over the past year for reunification when a call came in. ‘LeAnne, we have a 2-month-old baby boy, failure to thrive. He is at the hospital, and we want to know if you guys could take him?’ ‘YES! Of course,’ was our quick reply. ‘Thanks, the caseworker will call when he is ready to leave the hospital.’
