A Florida mom who adopted four children said she feels fortunate to be a single parent to “sweet” and “loving” kids.
Melissa Servetz, a former Florida teacher, worked in social services for several years and saw the need for children to find a good home up close. She always knew she wanted to be a mom.
She started off volunteering at one of the children’s homes and then eventually inquired about adoption and later became a foster parent.
In 2015, Servetz became a foster mom and since then she’s fostered 56 children, mostly babies and young children ages 5 and under. The last four children she fostered would later become the four children she adopted.
“I was single and I was just [like], ‘Why not? Let’s do it,’” Melissa shared. “‘Let’s try to help kids who really don’t have a safe place to call home.’”
Melissa is mom to Jade, who is 8, Destiny, who is 6, Matthew, who is 4, and Emerson, who is 2.
Melissa adopted sisters Jade (2-and-a-half at the time) and Destiny (16 months old) first. Then, she got Matthew and Emerson when they were days old from the hospital.
Melissa admits that she didn’t set out to be a mom of four, but she was determined to keep the siblings together. And the bond the siblings have is “unbreakable.”
“Actually, I did not see myself as a single mom of four, maybe two, you know,” Melissa told Good Morning America. “But there was no way I could let the boys go to someone else and be away from their siblings. There’s no way.”
As a mom who’s fostered and later adopted kids, Servetz said both experiences are not without their fair share of ups and downs, adding that her kids go to therapy regularly for the trauma they’ve experienced in their young lives.
“Adoption and foster care does pull on your heartstrings,” Servetz said. “But at the same time, you know you’re doing something and you’re helping that child in the moment that they need you the most.”
She encourages other single families to consider adoption as well. She said online communities have been a great support system for her in addition to her parents and friends.
More than anything, Melissa is grateful for her motherhood journey. Turns out it was a win-win for all!
“This has been [to] my benefit too because I became a mom; a forever mom, said Melissa. “I have in my opinion the best children in the world. I wouldn’t trade anything for that. I want them to remember that I picked them. I didn’t have to raise them but I chose to be their mom.”
Source: Good Morning America
