Kelsey’s Personal News

Secular Pro-Life founder and president Kelsey Hazzard here. I’ve occasionally written about my family life, and it’s a big week on that front, so I hope you’ll indulge me.

As I write this, I am a foster parent of four wonderful teenagers.

By the time you read this, 17-year-old “D,” who has been my foster son since October, will be reunified with his mother. Reunification is the primary goal of foster care, and it is so encouraging to see that goal met for D’s family. It is also hard, because of course I will miss him! But they will live about an hour’s drive away, and we will definitely keep in touch. D is a bright, hardworking young man and I am so excited to see what his future holds.

And on the morning this article is published — Wednesday, July 26, 2023 — I will be at a courthouse to finalize the adoption of 13-year-old Logan! After years of involvement in the foster care system, Logan will finally get DCF out of his life (which, among other things, allows me to share his real name). Logan has lived with me since September of 2021. I love him dearly, and we are already family in the ways that really matter. But it’s nice to make it official. At long last, he will have the legal stability that every child deserves.

There is trauma and loss involved in every adoption, and this one is no exception. Logan’s mother died unexpectedly last year. I knew her, and I feel a tremendous obligation to give Logan every opportunity she would want him to have. I will be thinking about her a lot.

All in all, this week is going to be an emotional roller coaster. I’m sure I will be extremely busy. I definitely won’t be in the mood to respond to the pro-choice trolls who ask HoW mAnY kIdS hAvE yOu AdOpTeD? But if you can leave some words of encouragement for me, Logan, and D, I will find the time to read those. Thank you all for your support. It means more than you know.

[Image credit: Nicola Fioravanti on Unsplash]