A lot of children spend their entire lives in the foster care system, waiting to be adopted but never do. Sadie Schmieg thought she would be a similar story till one family decided to change her fate…
Rachel and Blake Schmieg already had four children when they met Sadie. She was introduced to the family as a temporary foster, till she graduated high school but her stay soon turned permanent.
“We expressed our interest and our wiliness to adopt her if that was something that she wanted,” Blake Schmieg said.
Sadie was shocked and understandably overwhelmed. She recalls, “I was in awe that somebody who barely knew who I was and barely knew anything about me wanted to be a part of my life and my upbringing.”
Even though the Schmiegs missed the first 18 years of Sadie’s life, they have no plans on missing out on anything else. “We’re not going to miss a second of your life from this moment on,” Rachel said.
The family’s four children were all under 7 years old and thus the couple had no experience parenting teenagers.
“When you’re officially a parent through adoption, you take on all the responsibilities that a parent has. The expenses, the college stuff, the happy days and the sad days,” Blake said, stressing on the gravity of the situation.
However, there were hurdles in the way of their decision to adopt Sadie. According to the law of the state they reside in, Sadie did not qualify for adoption as she was over 18 years old.
But the Schmiegs are not ones to give up easily, and instead worked with lawmakers in South Dakota to change the state laws. Soon, they were allowed to officially make Sadie their daughter legally!
“Having that peace and just the harmony of belonging to somebody and knowing that somebody wants you back … that’s just the greatest feeling,” Sadie said gratefully.
The family hopes their story inspires others to open their hearts and homes to kids in the foster system in need of a forever home!
What a wonderful story. We are so happy to see Sadie officially become a Schmieg.
Share this heartwarming story to inspire others to do kind things for others too!
